


Eddsworld Fairytale Fic

by TrashyNerdork



Category: Eddsworld
Genre: Angst, Lots of shipping, Mild Gore, Swearing, eddsworld fairytale, like a lot of swearing, my first published fic so don't get your hopes up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2018-10-08 15:30:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 24,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10389867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashyNerdork/pseuds/TrashyNerdork
Summary: Basically just a mashup of eddsworld ships and classic fairytales.Ooooooor at least it started that simple :3





	1. Day 1

“Well shit.” a young man lost in the woods mumbled to himself. “Well isn’t this just fine and FUCKING DANDY!?!” The brunet boy began, ranting to the empty forest around him. The dark trees seemed to loom over him, not only shading from the merciless sun but engulfing him in both darkness and loneliness as well, allowing his anger to build and explode. “FIRST MY MOM GETS OBSESSED WITH THIS MAGIC MIRROR ‘FAIREST IN THE LAND’ BULLSHIT, AND THEN SHE TRIES TO KILL ME! MAKING ME THE MOST WANTED MAN IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING RED KINGDOM!” he shouted at nothing.

“That’s rough buddy.” a voice came from behind him.

The boy whipped around to see a dark haired dwarf with a light stubble and green eyes leaning casually against a tree next to a bright blonde elf with a very pronounced chin and purple eyes. 

“Who the hell are you?” He asked, this being the obvious first question to his mind after the sudden appearance of the two strangers.

“I’m Eduardo, and this is Mark.” the dwarf said gesturing to himself and then the elf. “The better question is: who are you other than the most wanted man in Red Kingdom screaming at innocent trees?” he questioned with a mocking raise of an eyebrow. 

“I’m Tord, and frankly I’m surprised that you haven’t run off to turn me in for gold yet.”

Eduardo faked an exaggerated gasp, “I am offended, I would  _ never _ turn someone in without hearing their side (because Jon would kill me if he found out i did).” Eduardo said half sarcastically, muttering the last part. 

“Well you’ve already heard my side while I was ‘screaming at innocent trees’, crazy mother with some shitty enchanted mirror. So, what’s your verdict?” Tord joked, putting his hands on his hips.

“Hmmm…” he hummed with an expression that show’s he’s already made up his mind and is faking for suspense. “Not guilty, we’ll help you out if you want.”

“Really!?” Tord’s eyes widened a little and his hands dropped to his sides.

“Yeah, just help us out a little bit in return and we’ll give you a place to stay as well as protection from whatever jerks wanna turn you in.” Eduardo offered.

Mark raised a questioning eyebrow at Eduardo’s kindness but remained silent.

“T-that’d be wonderful! Thank you!” 

Eduardo shrugged “Got a friend who likes to help people, guess that’s rubbed off on me... Anyways c’mon, I’ll show you back to the house, you can meet Jon, settle in, and all that jazz.”

Eduardo pushed himself off of the tree and lead the way through the woods, Tord and Mark in tow. They quickly make their way towards a gorgeous log cabin deep in the woods, hidden by trees but still in a clearing. The house was relatively small itself but it looked well-built and the surrounding area was full of plants, namely flowers. His attention is brought to the nearby river as he heard a loud splash, all he could make out was a small flash of purple before  _ whatever _ it was had already left.

“Hey Jon!” Eduardo called to a small blue fairy by the water.

“Hey Eddie, hey Mark. Man, you guys  _ just _ missed Matt! Oh- who’s this?” the fae asked. As he approached Tord could see that he wasn’t actually that small, in fact, he was a little taller than Eduardo. Jon had pale brown hair and blue-grey eyes, his wings appeared to be a metallic blue that glittered even in the dying daylight.

“This is Tord, he’s having some problems and Eddie wanted to help out.” Mark said, smiling widely to Jon. 

“Awwww, Eddie’s learning~” Jon chirped in a sweet but still mocking tone. He flew closer and gave Eduardo a teasing pat on the head.

“Shudup’. What was I supposed to do, leave him to yelling at trees?” Eduardo grumbled in response, earning chuckles from the other three.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Tord, my name’s Jon. I’m sure we’ll be great friends~”

“It’s nice to meet you too~” 

“Well it’s starting to get pretty late, what do you say to helping me make dinner?” Jon asked, straightening his posture, feet still having not touched the ground this entire time.

“I’m not much of a cook, but I can certainly try.” Tord replied with a slight shrug.

Jon lead the way to the house, opening the door and holding it for the others to walk in.

“Woah, nice place.” Tord said in awe as he looked around the interior. It felt cooler inside than he expected, complimented well by the evening sun beaming in through the windows. The house was about as big as he expected it to be from the exterior (which was not that big). It had a nice open feel despite the fact that it was all mostly just one big room, a passthrough wall next to the door separating the kitchen from the living room with the dining room set up in the far corner next to the kitchen and a small hallway next to that.

“We built it you know~” Eduardo stated proudly, he puffed out his chest with a thumb pointing to himself for emphasis.

“That’s so cool!” Tord exclaimed, starry-eyed in amazement.

“Kitchen’s right over here if you wanna help out.” Jon called.

Eduardo and Mark walked down the hallway and disappeared into one of the rooms. Tord followed Jon into the kitchen to help him to prepare dinner.

It was a simple meal; soup, rolls, and salad with pie for dessert. During their meal a few jokes were made about Tord’s crazy mother (mostly by Tord and Eduardo) and they all exchanged jokes and stories about their lives.

 

“You’ll be staying in the guest room down the hall, it should be labeled. If you need anything just ask~” Jon said, moving away from the sink. He and Tord had just finished the dishes and were both more than ready to go to bed.

“Thank you so much, good night.” Tord said opening the door with a sloppily scrawled paper reading ‘guest room’ pasted onto it.

“No problem.” Jon yawned, heading into his room.

 

Tord found himself staring at the ceiling, smiling a million miles a minute. ‘It’s almost like a real family~’ he thought giddily to himself before turning out the light and falling asleep.


	2. Day 2

Tord wandered through the endless trees, occasionally taking a glance or so at the map he was given. Eduardo, Mark, and Jon all had their own business to attend to and had asked if he could check the traps they had set up in the area to catch animals or any ‘nosy assholes’ as Eduardo had said. The first few traps were empty, nothing really interesting going on there. That is until somewhere along the way when he found one of the aforementioned ‘nosy assholes’. Hanging upside down from a tree by his ankle was a strikingly handsome young man with pale brown hair and pure black eyes (probably the result of some curse or something, best not to ask).

Tord decides to have a little fun with this encounter, “So, you come here often or are you just  _ hanging _ around~” he teased, sauntering up and leaning flirtatiously against the tree the man was tied too.

“Oh,  _ yes _ sir, and I am  _ very _ much _ enjoying _ the blood pooling in my head, this is _ just _ the way I wanted to spend my day.” the man responded with a strong sarcastic bite to his words.

“Well it’s not my cup of tea but whatever floats your boat I guess,” Tord mocked, climbing up onto an adjacent branch and hanging himself upside down off of it. 

The stranger let out a frustrated groan, “Could you just help me down already?!”

“What’s the magic word?~” Tord teased. 

“Are you fucking serious?”

“One hundred percent.” Tord attempted to fake a straight face but found that to be more than a little challenging with blood rushing to his head.

He sighed deeply, “... Could you help me down  _ please _ oh your royal highness.” he mocked.

“I don’t know if I like your tone mister, what’s your name?” Tord said, still teasing the poor guy.

“Assuming now that I’ll never escape this trap and you are the last person I’ll ever talk to; name’s Tom, what’s yours?”

“Tord, and I’ll let you down. Once I determine whether or not you’ll turn me in.”

“Turn you in? Why would I do that?”.

Tord deadpanned (for real this time) before replying, “For money, that’s why the entire fucking kingdom is hunting me down.”

“ _ pppft _ Dude, which kingdom? This forest literally has three kingdoms around it.”

“The Red one! Last I check it’s the only kingdom that has a crazy queen obsessed with a mirror who is trying to kill her son because he’s too sexy!” Tord exclaimed, throwing his arms out.

“Hahaha, are you serious!?” Tom exclaimed, shaking laughter. 

“Yes, I mean clearly she’s just jealous of this hot ass.” Tord joked as he slapped his own butt for emphasis. 

Tom was now laughing hysterically. “I mean, it is a pretty nice ass.” he managed through his fit of giggles. 

Tord’s face went red (well red-er), he did  _ not _ expect that response. “Clearly you’ve been upside down too long.” he said, dropping out of the tree. He then took out his trusty dagger and cut the rope suspending Tom in the air. 

Tom hit the ground with a loud  _ thump _ and slowly sat up, the blood rush obvious as his face paled significantly from the bright red that it was moments ago. “Hehe, I thought you weren't gonna let me down, what made you change your mind?” Tom asked rubbing the back of his head.

“Well you clearly don’t intend to turn me in and disposing of bodies is a pain in the ass.” Tord crossed his arms and shifted onto one side, taking on a sassy pose. 

“Ok then  _ princess _ , if you don’t mind I’ll be heading home now.” Tom said standing up and turning to leave.

“Where’d the  _ princess _ come from?” Tord questioned, following after him.

“Because you are a royal pain in the ass so I believe that name suits you~ And why are you following me? What, are you going to escort me out of the forest now?”

“I’m not escorting you anywhere, I have business to attend to and it just so happens to be in the same direction, bunny-boy~”

“Bunny-boy?” Tom stopped to look at him questioningly.

“You were caught in a rabbit trap, besides, you have a nickname for me and now I have one for you~” Tord looked smugly at Tom through his eye corners as he strolled past him.

Tom continued walking, speeding up a bit at first to catch up to Tord.

“I kinda like it~” Tom chuckled.

“Too bad those names are going to be very short lived then.” Tord said, trying not to let disappointment etch into his voice.

“What, we’re never gonna meet again?” Tom asked, sounding mockingly hurt.

“Nope, not unless you get caught in another trap.” Tord flashed him a grin and a wink.

“Well then I guess we won’t because I am neve-” on cue, another trap swept him up and into the air. “....Fuck.”

“Hehehe, looks like we’ll be seeing each other quite often after all bunny-boy~” Tord chimed as he once again cut the rope suspending him off of the ground, this time catching him before he hit the ground.

“Hehe, thanks princess.” Tom said, gently pushing Tord away and standing back up.

Tord pulls out his map and takes a look, internally pouting as he found their location.

“Well bunny-boy it looks like this is where we part ways, the traps end here. If you continue walking straight then you should be able to find your way back home.” he then turns and starts back along the path he needed to follow to check the remaining traps.

“Wait! I uh- I want to see you again, and I’d rather not hang upside down for an hour to do so.” Tom called out.

Tord turned around to face him, “Well then what do you suggest, marking some ‘special meeting place’ where we can ‘hang out’.” he said sarcastically.

“Well, yeah. I mean, I’ve proven myself to be not dangerous haven’t I? Sooo, why not?”

Tord paused, “.....I literally cannot think of a reason and it’s kinda bugging me.” 

“We can mark this final trap tree.” he suggested, taking Tord’s dagger out of his hands.

“Ah yes, just carve ‘princess and bunny-boy’ into it~” Tord crossed his arms and closed his eyes, expecting some snarky retort.

“Yeah, uh huh, ….aaaaand... Done~”

“Wait- seriously!?” he dropped his pose and slid in next to Tom to look at the tree that now read 'Princess and BB'. “Soooo, I’ll just meet you here tomorrow?”

“Sure. Until then, princess~” Tom placed Tord’s dagger into his hands before turning on his heels and walking away.

“Until then, bunny-boy~” He replied before turning the opposite direction to continue on his task. Tord checked the rest of the traps before heading back to the house. It was late by the time he got back, he could already smell Jon cooking dinner as he walked in the door.

“I’m back~” He chimed, walking in.

“Welcome back.” The other three all said in unison.

“Where were ya’, I was startin’ to worry.” Eduardo said, ruffling Tord’s hair roughly as he walked by.

“I ran into some guy in the woods, he was caught in a rabbit trap. Ended up talking to him for a while, he called me princess because apparently I’m a ‘royal pain’ and I called him bunny-boy since he got stuck in a fucking rabbit trap. Twice.” Tord chuckled. “Playing with him was fun but it probably won’t last long.” he waved his hand as to shoo the thought away.

“Oooooooh, is someone in love~?” Jon asked, now directing his full attention to Tord.

“What,  _ psht _ no, I’m straight as fuck.” 

“Hehe, that’s what these two said.” Eduardo commented, gesturing to Jon and Mark with a devilish smirk.

“EDDIE!” They both shouted in unison. Eduardo was now a giggling mess  _ this _ close to falling out of his seat.

“...What?” Tord asked.

_ Thunk! _ Eduardo fell out of his chair and lay on the floor laughing his ass off. Jon looked worriedly at Eduardo for a moment before sighing and returning to his work in the kitchen, leaving Mark to explain.

“What?” Tord repeated, looking now to Mark. 

“Well- you see- Eddie, Jon, and I- we’re in a relationship- the three of us.” Mark stuttered out awkwardly.

“...That’s cool, I’m not gay or poly, but it’s cool if you guys are.” Tord said, giving a solid thumbs up, not just any thumbs up, a solid one.

“Dinner’s ready!” Jon called.

Eduardo sprang up and ran to the table, obviously ready to eat. Tord and Mark helped Jon bring out the food before sitting down themselves.

“So, why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Tord asks, taking a roll from the center of the table. 

“It weirds a lot of people out so we agreed that our relationship was just between us.” Jon said.

“But it was more so our rule against ‘that’s what she said’ jokes that got us mad.” Mark added.

“Awwww, but come on, it was funny, admit it.” Eduardo whined.

“It doesn’t matter, you’re still sleeping on the couch tonight.” Jon stated firmly, now ignoring Eduardo in favor of eating his meal.

“Fuck.” Eduardo mumbled, taking a sip of his water.

Tord leaned over to Eduardo and whispered “That’s what she said~”.

Eduardo choked. Slamming down his glass on the table, he swallowed the water in his mouth before utterly losing his shit.

 

That night they both lay sprawled out on the living room floor.

“Fucking worth it.” Tord said

“Got that right.” Eduardo replied, high fiving him.

“Seriously though, I not gay.”

“Suuuuuuuure, riiiiight~” Eduardo gave him finger guns and a wink. Tord decided that it wasn’t worth fighting at the moment and allowed himself to drift into dream land, which unfortunately would hold no such pleasant dreams for him that night.


	3. Day 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fluff before the angst :3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I use a song in this chapter and I know like /everyone/ knows this song but in case you don't, here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGJTaP6anOU
> 
> EDIT: I figured out how to use italicized words on here!

The next day Tord found himself walking a little faster along the trail, dismissing the weird and foreboding dream he had the previous night and checking the traps as he went, resetting the ones that had gone off and such. He soon approached the tree marked ‘Princess and BB’ where Tom was already waiting for him.

“I was beginning to think you weren't coming princess~”

“And here I thought you wouldn’t show bunny-boy~” Tord chimed, coming to a stop. “So what was your plan, meet up again aaaaaaand?”

“I don’t know, just, talk I guess.”

“Ok then, you have subjected yourself to any and all random questions I ask.”

“Ask away, I’m an open book.”

Tord perched himself on a nearby branch while Tom crossed his arms and leaned against the tree.

“Ok, hmmmmmmm.” Tord hummed in thought. “Are you a virgin?” devilish mischief covered his face while he awaited a response. 

“WHA- WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!?!?!”

“You said you’re an open book bunn-bunn~”

“I- *sigh* if you must know, then yes, I am. What about you?”

“Classified~”

“Hey, No, Nuh uh, I had to answer, so do you princess!”

Tord lets out an exaggerated, mocking sigh, “Physically yes, mentally no~”

“Do- do I want to know what that means?”

“Probably not.”

“Ok, It’s my turn to ask a question; what is your favorite type of weather?”

“.....Wow, I was expecting some weird revenge question. But to answer; Probably stormy, like how it looks like it’s gonna be pretty soon.” Tord glanced up through the trees to the sky where dark clouds loomed overhead. “What about you?”

“Hmmmm, probably just cloudy, like it is right now.” Tom looked to the sky thoughtfully. Tord found himself staring at him and as soon as Tom looked back down, Tord turned his head away. “Well princess, it’s your turn.”

“Ah- right. Um… how many friends do you have?”

“Just one, his name is Edd and he likes to travel a lot.”

“Wow, either we know the same Edd or there are two Edds out there who like to travel~”

“Haha, knowing Edd it’s probably the same guy, he makes friends left and right. Anyways what about you, how many friends do you have?”

“Eh, about five. Other than Edd there's Jon, Mark, Eduardo, and Paul.”

“What are they like?”

“Just letting you know, this counts as a question from you.”

“Fair enough.”

“Paul is like, super nice, but he’s too awkward for his own good. He looks super tough but I’ve actually caught him singing and watering flowers before, not to mention how much time he spends with kids, that’s how he practically became a baking god and a braiding champion. It’s too bad I can’t go hang with him because of the whole ‘bounty on my head’ thing.”

“He sounds like a pretty nice guy. What about the other three?.”

“They’re my current house mates since, well, you know. Eduardo’s pretty fun, he can be kind of obnoxious but he has a good sense of humor. Jon is really sweet and caring, kinda like a mom. And Mark, he’s more of the silent type so I don’t really know how to describe him.”

“Cool. Well it’s your turn now.”

“....Do you like music?”

“Most music yes, but I  _ really _ like to make my own~” Tom looked down, slightly embarrassed.

“Really?! That’s awesome! I  _ love _ music myself~”

Tom looked up and smiled, “My turn, do you like to dance?”

“I- what? I have no clue how to dance.” Tord sat up straighter on his branch and raised his hands up in defense.

“Would you like to learn?” Tom stepped forwards, seeming rather eager.

“No thank you, your toes will thank me for declining your offer bunn-bunn.” he gave a half-hearted finger gun at Tom’s feet.

“Oh come on, every princess needs to know how to dance~” Tom gently took hold of Tord’s right hand and pulled him off of his branch. He then pulled Tord in close, moved Tord’s left hand onto his shoulder, and put his right hand around Tord’s waist.

“WHA-” Tord began to protest but was cut off by Tom.

_ “ _ _ Wise men say only fools rush in” _ Tom began a step sequence, causing Tord to stumble a little.  _ “But I can't help falling in love with you” _ Tom’s voice was deep and smooth, _ “Shall I stay, Would it be a sin” _ Tord stepped on Tom’s foot and tensed, quickly relaxing when he saw that Tom was completely unfazed by it.  _ “If I can't help falling in love with you” _ Tord began to fall into step with him.  _ “Like a river flows surely to the sea, Darling so it goes, Some things are meant to be” _ Tord looked up from the ground only to get lost in Tom’s eyes, black and emerald meeting and glistening.  _ “Take my hand, take my whole life too, For I can't help falling in love with you” _ They both blushed, but took no notice as they danced across the forest floor.  _ “Like a river flows surely to the sea, Darling so it goes, Some things are meant to be” _ Rain began to pour down but once again, neither seemed to care as they simply stared into each other's eyes.  _ “Take my hand, take my whole life too, For I can't help falling in love with you, For I can't help falling in love with you” _  Tom’s singing stopped, as the song finished so did their dance. 

Tord hesitated before pulling away, “I should probably head home now, the others will go nuts if I’m gone for hours in the rain.”

“R-right. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Yeah, definitely, see you tomorrow bunny-boy.”

“See you tomorrow princess.”

 

“GUYS HOLY FUCK!” Tord shouted as he practically kicked in the door.

“Where the hell have you been!” Eduardo exclaimed as they all rushed to Tord.

Tord put his hand on Eduardo’s shoulder, looked him dead in the eyes and said, “I am so fucking gay.”. Eduardo then put his hand on Tord’s shoulder for support as he broke down in laughter. Mark and Jon both giggled a little.

“Told ya so~” Jon chirped, lightly patting Tord on the back.

Mark ruffled Tord’s hair. “Congrats. Now you better get changed before you catch a cold.”

Tord nodded. “Will do.” he said before bounding off to his room to get changed.

 

Tord left his room, now in dry clothes. It had taken him a good while to wrestle himself out of his wet garments and even longer to dry himself off and get into his new clothes. In summary; being wet is a pain in the ass. 

He walked down the short hall and into the living room where he found Jon and Eduardo asleep against Mark on the couch as Mark read a book and sipped quietly on a cup of tea.

”Welcome back. Your dinner’s on the kitchen counter if you want it.”

“Thanks~” Tord went into the kitchen and came back with a plate of roasted rabbit and salad accompanied by a roll of bread. He set them down on the coffee table and settled down on the floor across from the others.

“So are you gonna tell him?” Mark asked, lowering his book.

Tord stopped eating and put his spoon down. “What do you mean?”

“I mean are you going to tell your ‘bunny-boy’ that you love him?”

“Well- I- I don’t know. Like, what if he doesn’t like me back? What if he hates me? What if-”

“Always the what if’s.” Eduardo grumbled, now awake.

“Yeah, don’t think it over too much. If you like him, tell him!” Jon cheered, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“I-I don’t know-”

“Yes you do. You told us that you like him, now it’s our job as friends to help you build up the nerve to tell him… by nagging you mercilessly.” Mark leaned forward a bit, smiling somewhat teasingly.

“Ok but like, what about me is there even to like?”

“What, have you already forgotten that you are literally the  _ sexiest _ person in the land as declared by a  _ magical _ fucking mirror!?” Eduardo shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

Tord laughed, “Ok, ok. I am pretty hot. Do you guys really think he’ll like me back though?”

“YES!” They all shouted in unison.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was cute right? I'm trying because I don't know how to write...like at all. Thank you to all of you who are reading and liking this story btw, it means a lot to me~


	4. Day 4

‘Ok, I know I said I would last night but maybe I could just… you know, not.’ Tord thought to himself as he got ready for the day. The others had successfully persuaded him to tell Tom how he felt the night before but now that he had slept on it he thought about all the ways it could go wrong and became anxious.

“Ok so, I just won’t tell him afterall, then everything will be fine. Nothing ventured, nothing lost. Nothing at all reversed about that logic.” Tord mumbled to himself, closing the door to his room behind him. The scrap of paper reading ‘guest room’ was gone, it it’s place were the words ‘Tord’s room’ freshly carved into it. Tord saw this and began smiling a million miles a minute, ‘The others must have done that last night’ he thought, ghosting his hand across the wood thoughtfully for a moment before continuing on his way to the kitchen. The house was empty as the others had all gone off a bit earlier to attend to their daily tasks, Jon to his gardens, Eduardo to the mines, and Mark to his job in one of the nearby cities. They left breakfast on the table for him and Tord picked up an apple as he passed the dining room to the kitchen passthrough where his bag was. Tord picked up his map to review his rout, planning on just avoiding his and Tom’s meeting spot altogether, when he noticed that there were several small notes pinned to his bag.

“Good luck today! - Jon”

“We’re rooting for you! - Mark”

“If he breaks your heart, I will personally kick his ass. - Eddie”

Tord read the notes one by one and his smile only grew, “Well, looks like I can’t back down now.” Tord said with a chuckle before putting the notes and the map into his bag and preparing to leave. He double checked that he had everything he needed and was about to set off when-

-KNOCK-KNOCK-

‘Who the hell??’ he thought, going to open the door. “PAUL!?!?” Tord shouted, taken by surprise at the sudden appearance of his old friend.

“TORD! Oh my god you really are here!” Paul exclaimed, putting his hands on Tord’s shoulders as if to confirm that there was an actual person in front of him.

“Yeah, how did you find me with all that’s been going on!?”

“A-a friend of mine said he saw you out here in the woods so I-I came looking for you!” Paul explained. Tord felt a little off put by that, Paul didn’t have many friends, certainly not the type who would just wander through the woods. Then again it could have been Edd, but then why didn't he just say it was Edd, and wouldn’t Edd have gone to Tord himself if he saw him? “Man it’s good to see you’re alright.” Paul said, pulling Tord from his racing thoughts.

“Oh wow, you would not believe all the crazy stuff that’s been happening!”

“Try me.” Paul stands back, raising one eyebrow slightly.

“Ok, so to begin I got my crazy-ass mom who sends the entire Red Kingdom to kill me just because some magic mirror basically said I was sexier than her. I was… taking my frustrations out on trees, because who else am I gonna scream at. That’s when I met Eduardo, Mark, and Jon. They’re awesome, I’ve been staying with them a while now and I honestly like it better than life at the castle? But then I met this guy, Tom, who’s like super hot, and I’m like super gay for him? I was just about to go meet up with him actually.”

“Wow, that does sound crazy. I’d hate to keep you from your ‘true love’ and all, but would you like a cupcake? I’ve been doing waaaay too much baking lately.”

“I would love one! There are never enough of your cupcakes in the world my friend.”

Paul reached into his bag and pulled out a beautiful red velvet cupcake with creamcheese frosting and handed it to Tord. Tord accepted it and took a bite out of it, it tasted normal at first but then he noticed that something was… off. The world around him began to spin and it felt as though the earth suddenly came out from under him.

**“HAHAHAHAHAHA”** the voice had changed, ‘I recognize this voice’ Tord thought.

**“I GOT YOU AT LAST!”** Tord looked up through the haze covering his eyesight to see a completely different figure looming over him. All he could make out were her swirling blue-green eyes and demonic smile.

“Mother?” Were the last words Tord was able to utter before he passed out completely.

 

Jon was headed back to the house for lunch, same as usual. In fact the only one who never came home for lunch was Tord. Jon approached the house and shifted from hovering on his wings to standing on his feet when he saw Eduardo crouched over in the doorway. Jon stepped closer.

“Wake up! C’mon!” Eduardo yelled in distress.

“Eddie wh-” Jon cut himself off when he came closer to see Tord passed out on the ground, Eduardo shaking him slightly. “WHAT HAPPENED!?!?”

“I-I don’t know! I came back and he was on the ground! He won’t wake up!”

“What do we do!?!?”

“Check his pulse.” Mark said from behind them, having just got there and heard what they said.

“O-ok.” Eduardo gently pushed two fingers against the side of Tord’s neck and paused. Eduardo paled and whispered “nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing!?! He has to have a pulse right?!” Jon pushed Eduardo to the side a little and checked for a pulse himself. When he came up with nothing he fell back onto the ground, tears welling in his eyes before freely streaming down his cheeks. “N-no.”

“That damn witch of a ‘mother’ must have gotten to him.” Mark hissed, glaring at his own clenched fists. He looked down solemnly, a few tears welling in his own eyes, before kneeling down and gingerly picking up Tord’s body, turning towards the woods.

“What are you doing?” Eduardo asked, wiping his eyes and sniffling a bit.

“We can’t just leave him here. A proper guy deserves a proper resting place.” Mark replied, looking down to Tord.

“H-he’s right.” Jon shakily stood up and Eduardo rushed to make sure he didn’t fall. The three of them walked out into the woods to make a proper grave for their friend.

It didn’t take very long, they found a large flat-top rock near the stream and laid Tord down on it. Jon then started to cover it in flowers and the others joined in. When they were satisfied with how it looked they stood there in silence, the only sounds were that of the stream’s rushing water, the distant rustling of leaves, and their own muffled sobs….. Until they heard splashing.

 

Tom strummed on his guitar. He had stood there for hours waiting for Tord. The night before, Tom had decided that that would be the day he would tell Tord that he loved him. Even if he had to eventually tell him that he was a king, it didn’t matter. What did matter was that he loved him more than he had ever loved anyone before. 

“This was a mistake, I probably scared him off yesterday.” Tom mumbled to himself. He pushed off of the tree and began to wander the woods, strumming a random tune on his guitar as he let his legs carry him wherever they wanted to go. He let his mind wander to all of the horrible things people had ever said about him and tried to force himself to see Tord saying those things, but he couldn’t. All he could picture was his beautiful smile, his charming accent, his stupid jokes. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t picture his ‘princess’ saying he’s a mistake, saying he’s a screwup who should never have been born. He knew Tord was different. He let out a sigh and looked up, the sound of rushing water drifting to interrupt his thoughts, he felt drawn to it. At this point he had long since stopped playing his guitar and was dragging it lightly across the ground as he walked aimlessly. As soon as he entered the clearing he stopped, his eyes widened in disbelief.

“T-Tord?” Tom stepped closer, throwing his guitar to the side. When Tord didn’t respond or even move Tom rushed to his side, checked for a pulse, and froze. _ Nothing _ . He sat lightly on the edge of the rock next to Tord, tears dripping down his chin as he looked upon the man that he loved. Tom caressed Tord’s cheek and leaned down until their foreheads touched.

“...I love you.” Tom whispered before gently kissing Tord on the lips.

 

Darkness. That’s all he felt, all he saw, all he was. It was suffocating. Darkness. Loneliness. Nothingness. A fate worse than death; a fate of being trapped in his own dark soul. But then…. he heard something, a faint voice that seemed to pull him towards the light, ‘I love you.’ the voice was Tom’s. Oh how badly Tord wanted to respond, how badly he just wanted to see him one last time. And then he felt something. He felt himself being lifted out of the darkness and opened his eyes to see that Tom was kissing him. His heart skipped a beat and he melted into the kiss, returning it and making it more intense. The next thing he knew he was sitting upright, their tongues dancing. Tord pulled away, looked into Tom’s teary eyes, and said, “I love you too.” They were both grinning widely and blushing, breathless from their racing hearts. But only for a moment. Seconds later Tom collapsed into Tord’s arms, completely lifeless.

“Wh- Tom? TOM!?!” he shouted, shaking him roughly in an attempt to wake him.

**“Oh he’s not waking up dearie~”** her voice snicked.

“You. WHAT HAPPENED! WHAT DID YOU DO!?!” Tord hissed, eyes narrowing.

**“What did I do? Why I put you under a curse, a simple sleeping curse that can only be broken by true love’s kiss.”** she sneered.

“NO. WHAT DID YOU DO TO TOM!” he spat. More of a demand than a question.

**“I didn’t do anything. He broke your curse and became cursed himself. The real question is what did YOU do?”** she pointed an accusatory finger at Tord.

Tord looked down upon Tom’s face. He  _ did _ do this. This _ was _ his fault.

**“All he ever did was love you and look where that got him.”**

‘Tom doesn’t deserve this. It’s all my fucking fault’

**“Cursed.”**

…...No. This wasn’t his fault. It was  _ her’s _ .

**“Doomed to spend the rest of his miserable life either asleep or in an endless loop of cursing and being cursed.”**

Tord  gently pushed Tom further onto the bed of flowers and wrapped his hand around the hilt of Tom’s sword.

**“He’ll probably end up hating you in the end, who could ever love someone who did THIS to them?”**

Tord unsheathed the sword and charged and the witch and-

**_\--SHINK--_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *evil laughter*


	5. Day 1 Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I realize I'm posting this on April fools day but it's not a joke (well I mean it has jokes in it buuuuuut)
> 
> Edit: aaaaaaaaa! I can't believe I forgot to put the link to the song! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JGHd0NWmGM

A young man with long dark brown hair hazily blinked  awake, revealing bright amber eyes. He threw off the covers and rushed to the window where the sun was just rising in the distance. He took in a deep breath of fresh air before dashing back into the tower. He hummed a little tune as he got dressed and made himself some breakfast. After eating he cleaned the ‘house’ which was really just a couple large rooms in the top of a ridiculously tall tower. It was a normal day, he had finished his chores and had begun to dance gracefully across the wooden floors with his nose stuck in a book when _-Thunk-_

“Augh!” he groaned, looking down to his own mess of hair that had tripped him. His mother was very insistent that he never cut it for some strange reason, but it was a pian. Even when tied up and braided it could still wrap around him several times. He pulled himself from the ground and delicately parkoured across the room, being careful as to not trip again. He grabbed his brush and a small wooden box full of colorful string from a nearby table, setting down his book in its place, and moved to the window. There was only one window in the entire tower (other than the skylight) and that was it. The window had no balcony but it was rather large and had a thick ledge, his mother had always told him to stay off of the window ledge but she was usually away, leaving him the ability to lean out and absorb the sunshine, breath the air, feel the breeze. He loved the outside, but was always too scared of his mother’s warnings and consequences to ever go any further than the ledge since _that night_. So he sat himself down on the thick ledge and started on his hair, brushing first at the top, tying strings tightly around sections every foot or so as he worked his way down, this did nothing to shorten his hair but at the very least it made it more manageable. About halfway through he started singing a song that he remembered hearing once.

_“There I was again tonight forcing laughter, faking smiles, Same old tired, lonely place, Walls of insincerity, Shifting eyes and vacancy vanished when I saw your face, All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you”_ he sang, closing his eyes as he slowly grew in volume.

_“Your eyes whispered ‘have we met?’, Across the room your silhouette starts to make it's way to me” _  he noticed another voice had joined his and opened his eyes to look around.

“The playful conversation starts, Counter all your quick remarks like passing notes in secrecy” The voice sang. He spotted a young man with oddly large eyebrows attempting to hide behind a bush. His voice was familiar but not distinctly recognizable.

_“All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you”_ He decided to sing the next line and the other was silent.

“Oh darling I was so enchanted to meet you too” It seemed that they had silently agreed to make this song into a duet.

_“This night is sparkling, don't you let it go, I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home”_ he quickly finished with his hair as he gazed at the stranger who seemed to have yet to notice that he could see him.

“I'll spend forever wondering if you knew, I was enchanted to meet you too” the stranger’s voice was deep, a little gravely, far from perfect, but it had a charm to it.

_“The lingering question kept me up, 2AM, who do you love?, I wondered till I'm wide awake”_

“Now I'm pacing back and forth, wishing you were at my door, I'd open up and you would say,”

_“Hey it was enchanting to meet you”_

“Oh darling I was so enchanted to meet you too”

_“ This night is sparkling, don't you let it go, I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home, I'll spend forever wondering if you knew, I was enchanted to meet you too" _ they sang in unison, voices blending surprisingly well.

“This is me praying that this was the very first page, Not where the story line ends”

_“My thoughts will echo your name until I see you again, These are the words I held back as I was leaving too soon”_

_“ I was enchanted to meet you too” _

 

There was a beat of silence.

“You know, if you want to hide, I’d recommend the rock pile~” he called out.

The stranger jumped a little and looked towards him studdering, “Oh, uh- Hi-hiding? Me? Wha- I’m not hiding- I was juuuuusssst…. uh” he trailed off.

“Hehe, why don’t you come closer, it’s hard to talk from so far.”

He cautiously stepped forwards. Now that he was closer, it was visible that the stranger had brown hair, just a little lighter than his own, and _beautiful_ ocean-blue eyes.

“So what’s your name?”

“Uh- Paul- M-my name is Paul. What’s your’s?” the stranger stuttered out.

“My name’s Pat, it’s a pleasure to meet you Paul~”

“I-if you don’t mind me asking, uh, wh-what’s with the tower?”

“I have a _very_ overprotective mother.”

“Wow, that sucks- wait. Sorry. I-I didn’t mean to in-insult or anything-”

“It’s fine. And you’re right, it does suck.”

Paul let out a sigh of relief. “How does she get into the tower tough?”

“This is probably going to sound more than a little weird and unorthodox but…” Pat throws his hair over the ledge where it almost touches the ground, “She climbs my hair.”

Paul’s eyes went wide in shock and disbelief and he became even more of a stuttering mess than before, “W-wh- h-how- do- what- huuuuuh?!???!?”

“Want to come in? And before you ask; no, I’m not going to hurt you or anything and no, it doesn’t hurt me for you to climb up.”

Paul walked up to Pat’s long, thick hair and looked up to Pat. After receiving a reassuring smile he grabbed hold of it and began to climb, frequently looking up to Pat to make sure he was ok and receiving nothing but warm smiles occasionally soft giggles in return. He eventually reached the top and rested on the window ledge that Pat had taken a step back from.

“Wow, the view from up here is spectacular.” Paul said, looking over the lush forest and clear blue skies. He turned back around to see an eager Pat, who had grabbed a pen and pad of paper, jumping up and down with excitement.

“So what’s it like? What are the people like? What do the kingdoms look like? What’s happened in recent history?” Pat beamed. He had never really gotten a chance to see the world himself and planned to learn all he could through Paul.

Paul was stunned for a moment by Pat’s sudden energy but recovered relatively quickly and chuckled a bit. He shifted inside the tower a bit more, “Honestly, it’s wonderful. Th-the people, while some can be rude o-or selfish, there are so many kind, generous, ju-just- amazing people! I’ve only been to two of the kingdoms myself b-but they’re HUGE, the streets are always full of activity, so are the shops, and at night when everything else is calm, the pubs are simply an endless party!” Paul began to smile widely.

“Woooooah, that’s so cool! But what about the history?”

“W-well, you know about the kingdoms, so how much do you a-already know?”

“Hmmm, only what I’ve read in books, which isn’t very much. Most of the books were about the wars between the Red and Blue kingdoms, the trade routes of the Green kingdom, and the myths of the Purple and Sea kingdoms.”

“D-did you know that in recent years the Red and Blue kingdoms became allies?”

“No I didn’t, I thought they hated each other?”

“Th-they did, but when there came to be a new king and queen in both kingdoms, they realized that there was no real cause for their strife and started working together. They had hoped to be brought closer together by a marriage between their heirs but that’s n-not going to happen.”

“Why’s that?”

“B-because both queens had s-sons.”

“But what if they end up liking each other? Can’t they still be joined in marriage then?” Pat inquired, tilting his head to the side with a face of confusion.

A light blush spread across Paul’s face. “W-well, I-I mean, t-that’s not how it works?”

“Why’s that?”

“B-because, traditionally, i-in order to p-produce an heir, th-they need a king and a q-queen.”

“Why?”

Paul’s blush spread and deepened until his whole face was bright red. ‘God, he so innocent’ he thought, trying to cover his face.

“Come to think of it, where do babies come fr-”

“SO GREEN KINGDOM! W-what do you know about the Green kingdom!?” he flailed in great effort to _not_ have to explain _that_ to him.

“Just that they are really well known for their trade.” Pat seemed virtually unfazed by the sudden change of subject. Good.

“Y-yeah, they have never involved themselves in any war and scarcely interact with the other kingdoms o-outside of trade. The royal family is very a-adventurous and can rarely be found in the castle since they are constantly out ei-either exploring or a-assisting trade.”

“Wow, but what about their people, don’t they have issues, especially without the king and queen?”

“Nope. The Green kingdom is actually v-very peaceful and what few conflicts it does have c-can easily be handled by the people, so the royal family is m-more figurehead than actual authority.”

“But I thought the Purple kingdom was the most peaceful?”

“That’s m-more of just a slogan, but in comparison to the Red and Blue kingdoms th-they might as well be.”

“Ah. So where are you from?”

“Purple kingdom. It really is quite beautiful, e-especially at his time of year. S-since it’s spring there are all sorts of festivals, everyone is happy, and the flowers in the area a-are in full bloom.”

“Really? Man, I wish I could see it~” Pat let out a deep sigh and draped his arms over the window ledge, next to Paul.

“Why don’t you? In just the time that we’ve b-been talking you could have walked there and back t-twice by now.”

“Hehe, yeah. I have gone out, just once.” Pat’s gaze became more distant as he got swept up in the memories of _that_ night.

“W-well, what happened?”

“....I got caught. She made the tower taller and destroyed the staircase that she had previously used to get in and out.”

“O-oh.”

“Yeah… Hey! I still have questions! What do you do all day, ya’ know, outside?” Pat perked back up to attention and looked expectantly to Paul.

He ran a hand through his messy hair, “Oh boy, w-where do I even start with all of the things you can do?”

“You could start with what you do?”

Paul hesitated for a moment, “W-well… I-I have a lo-lot of hobbies and-”

“No, I mean like what do you do, like as an occupation? Are you a traveler? An adventurer? Is that why you were out in the woods?”

A silence fell over them as Pat waited eagerly for Paul to respond and Paul tried to think of anything other than the _real_ reason he was out in the forest. Paul eventually gave up and opted to tell Pat the truth, “Well I-”. **bong! bong!** He was cut off by the sound of distant church bells to mark the hour.

“Darn it! The sun’s setting.” Pat pouted, looking to the sky, a brilliant mess of pink, purple, and orange. “My mom will be back any minute, you best be leaving soon. Thank you so much for talking to me though.” Pat took Paul’s hands in his and gave him a sad smile before signaling for him to climb down.

Without much more than a shy smile of his own, Paul climbed down and looked back up to Pat. “I-I’LL BE BACK TOMORROW!” Paul shouted up to Pat and watched as his face lit up with joy and excitement.

“REALLY!?!?”

“YEAH! YOU CAN COUNT ON IT!” he turned around and walked away, trying his best to ignore the immense blush on his face and butterflies in his stomach.

Pat turned back into the tower after Paul was out of sight and quickly melted into a puddle of squeals and giggles.

**“Oh Patrick dear, I’m home~”** his mother called for the base of the tower.

Pat quickly regained his composure and rushed to the widow, “Welcome back!”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I'm sorry this chapter took me so long, school has started back up so it will take me longer to get chapters written but I will try to keep updating as frequently as possible~


	6. Day 2 Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, I meant to get this chapter done waaaaaaaay sooner but I kept getting his with writer's block.

Pat awoke to the sound of his mother singing in the kitchen. This was it. He had stayed up late that night thinking of ways to get his mom away from the tower long enough for him to spend some _real_ time with Paul. Especially since Paul was coming back that day and as far as Pat knew, his mom had no intentions of leaving ‘home’ for another day or so.

“Good morning mom!” he called while walking into the kitchen area.

“Morning sweetie! I’m making scrambled eggs for breakfast~ **”** she called back, barely looking up from her work.

“Nice!” Pat said as he sat down at the table.

She poured the contents of the pan onto plates, garnished it with some fresh herbs, and filled the remaining space on the plates with fresh fruit. When satisfied with the dish she set a plate down in front of Pat and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead before seating herself at the table with her own plate of food. They ate in silence for a few minutes before...

“So mom,”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering if maybe, just maybe, since my birthday is coming up and all…”

She gave him an impatient look.

“I was hoping that I could convince you to go to Green kingdom and get me some of those really nice fabrics?”

Her face hardened to one of mild anger, “And what _exactly_ do you want these fabrics for might I ask?”

“Ya’ know, sewing stuff?” Pat began to shy away at the venom in her voice.

“Oh really? Because last time I got you fabrics for ‘sewing stuff’ you RAN OFF TO SOME BALL WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!” She slammed her hands down on the table and jolted up in rage.

“I-I’m not going to do that again I swear!” Pat began tearing up at just the memories of _that night_.

Her Face softened when she saw Pat’s tears. “Oh darling don’t cry, I’m sorry.” Her voice was soft as she gently wiped the tears from his eyes. “You want some more fabrics? Ok then, it’s about time you got a new outfit anyways. But are you sure you’ll be ok by yourself?”

Pat sniffled a little and rubbed at his eyes, “I’ll be fine mom.” He offered her a small smile.

She smiled back and gave him a hug before grabbing a basket from the counter. “I’ll want to leave as soon as possible, it’s almost a full day's trip to the Purple kingdom alone and a varying amount of time to even get a ship out to Green kingdom so it will be a four days trip at least. You’ll be ok being alone for that long?” She talked while filling her basket with several items needed for her trip. (Food, money, etc.)

“Of course~” Pat got up and handed her her cloak.

She let out a sigh as they walked to the window. “Stay safe and _please_ stay here.”

“I will, have a safe trip.” Pat lowered his hair and she climbed down almost effortlessly. She waved goodbye to him before turning and leaving. Pat waved back and sank down to the floor when she was out of sight. He put his arm on the windowsill and rested his head on his arm.

 

After a while he heard splashing from the river adjacent to his tower. He looked to see his friend, a ginger merman who passed by rather frequently, waving and splashing to get his attention. They exchanged a brief conversation through hand gestures as yelling was futile and that was their only way to communicate. It seemed he had somewhere to be though so Pat simply waved goodbye as his friend continued his way upstream.

 

Pat lost track of time and thereby wasn’t sure exactly how long it had been before he heard a rustling in the bushes. He looked up to see a somewhat disgruntled Paul making his way towards the tower. “Hey Paulie~” Pat called, straightening up and waving his hand excitedly..

“H-hey Pat!” his features visibly brightened upon seeing Pat. “H-how are you today?”

“I’m great! How are you?” he let down his hair to invite Paul up.

“....I-I’m .. g-good.” he climbed up a little faster than he did the previous day but was still pretty cautious.

Pat hummed thoughtfully for a second. “I’m not convinced.”

Paul reached the ledge and perched himself next to Pat. “W-what do you mean? C-c-convincing wh-wha-”

Pat raised a questioning eyebrow and Paul averted his gaze. Pat waved his hand in front of Paul’s face to get his attention and frowned slightly when it failed. He sat there for a moment before his face twisted into one of mischief. He then stood up on the window ledge and climbed up, hooked his legs onto the frame and lowered himself directly in front of Paul’s face. “What’s wrong?”

Paul’s eyes widened and he found himself unable to even attempt to look away so he closed his eyes and let out a sigh, he really didn’t want to have to tell Pat. He opened his eyes when he felt Pat’s hands wrap around his. He looked up and couldn’t help but giggle a little at how red Pat’s face was from hanging upside down but quickly took on a worried expression as he noticed how dizzy Pat obviously was. “Ok, ok, I-I’ll tell you if you come down!” Pat gave a thumbs up and started to climb down only to lose his balance and his hold on the frame. Paul caught him before he fell to the ground and blushed as he looked into Pat’s eyes. The red slowly left Pat’s face only to be replaced by a light dusting of pink across his cheeks. After a moment Paul placed Pat’s feet on the floor and let him stand up. Pat smiled but quickly regained his expression of concern when he saw that Paul was still looking upset and continued to avoid eye contact. He then ran to his room returning with an armful of pillows and blankets and threw them onto the floor forming a nest of fluff and invited Paul to join him in said nest. Paul quietly sat down across from Pat and sank into the fluff of pillows, instantly feeling more relaxed.

“So, what’s wrong?”

“E-everything? W-where do I-I start?”

“Well you’ve got to have friends, why don’t you start there?”  
“Other than y-you I only have one friend, Tord. And I haven’t even heard from him since his crazy mother sent the entire Red kingdom to kill him.”

“Is that why you were in the woods? Were you looking for him?”

“More or less. I kinda r-ran away. I w-was looking for him s-so that maybe I could escape w-with him.”

“But why? From the sounds of it you loved your home.”

“I-I do but…….” Paul trailed off.

“But?” Pat once again took hold of his hands and looked caringly into his eyes.

“T-there are certain expectations and responsibilities that I have to meet and…. I-I’m just not ready. _I can’t fill my father’s place, I can’t marry someone I don’t love, I can’t rule a kingdom all on my own, I-I c-c-can’t…_ ” He broke down into tears as Pat enveloped him in a tight hug. Pat rubbed gentle circles into his back and made soft shushing sounds to comfort him.

“...If you don’t want to talk about it I understand. I’m sorry for pushing you.”

Paul pulled away and rubbed his eyes doing his best to dry his tears. “N-no, i-it’s fine. I-I… I want to tell you.”

Pat gave him a reassuring smile and loosely held his hands.

Paul took a deep breath and looked down at their joined hands. “I’m the prince, heir to the throne of the purple kingdom. Recently my father passed away and I am now expected to take his place and rule the kingdom, in addition i have to follow tradition and find a woman to marry even though… I-I’m gay. I couldn't handle it all so I ran away and I don’t think that I can ever work up the courage to go back.” His tears returned.

Without an ounce of hesitation Pat once again held Paul close in a tight embrace. They sat there for a while in the same manner as before and when Paul eventually pulled away, Pat put a hand on his cheek and wiped away some of his tears with his thumb. Paul leaned into the touch and the two of them exchanged exchanged soft, caring looks.

“C-could we maybe talk about something else?” Paul asked.

“Of course! Uhm… well we don’t know a lot about each other, so how about we just ask random questions?”

“Sound like fun, w-why don’t you go first?”

“Ok then, what’s your favorite color?”  
“Pink. What’s your’s?”

“Yellow~”

Paul let out a small giggle “That makes sense.”

“Why’s that?”

“B-because yellow is the color of sunshine and happiness.” he smiled and blushed slightly.

Pat paused for a moment, processing what Paul had just said. He then beamed with a smile full of pure joy and a blush to mirror Paul’s. “Thank you for thinking so~”

“W-well I guess it’s my turn. F-favorite season or type of weather?”

“Winter and snow, it’s the prettiest to look at from inside.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot you don’t leave the tower. Well maybe someday we could play in the snow together, trust me it’s a lot more fun to play in than it is to look at.”

“Really!? I can’t wait for that day~”

Paul smiled widely and nodded in agreement.

“What about you, what’s your favorite season and type of weather?”

“Hmmm, it would probably be spring and either rain or sunshine…. Speaking of sunshine I should probably go.” he said sadly gesturing to the setting sun outside the window as the distant sound of church bells echoed through the forest.

“Actually! If you don’t have anywhere to go, my mom won’t be back for a couple days, you can stay here if you want.”

“R-really!? Thank you so much!”

“No problem. Are you hungry? I can make us something to eat.”

“Y-yeah, that sounds great.”

 

The rest of the night was spent cooking, eating, laughing, and enjoying the company. In the end they fell asleep leaning on each other and staring up at the stars.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How does one write bonding moments? I only know angst and like 90% of this story is supposed to be fluff.


	7. Day 3 Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowza this took me forever! I'm finally on summer though so updates should become more frequent~

Pat woke up to the sun rising just outside and stretched slightly, only to stop and look down at the still-sleeping Paul leaning against him. He frowned slightly when he noticed that Paul was mumbling and shifting as if he were having a nightmare. Pat gently pushed back Paul’s bangs and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. Paul seemed to relax a bit as a slight smile replaced his previous frown. Satisfied with Paul’s reaction, Pat grabbed one of the nearby blankets and wrapped it around the two of them and looked fondly down at Paul.

 

Darkness. That was all there was. Until a ground of sorts appeared, it was grass covered with a couple inches of water. He looked up to see two other people there with him. He couldn’t make out any defining features on either of them but he felt as though he should know them. He takes a step forward to see one of them collapsed onto the ground and be consumed by the darkness. He took a step back to witness the other get struck with a flash of light and be washed away by the rising water at their feet. He felt the panic set in and tried to yell out for someone, anyone, but no sound came out. Taking short ragged breaths, he took another step back before being forced forward. There was now a sharp pain in his stomach and he looked down to see a sphere of sorts jutting out of him as his blood gushed out, turning the clear water a dark crimson. He wanted to scream but it was futile. He felt his body giving out on him and was about to fall to the ground and undoubtedly join the other two when he felt a sudden wave of relief. The sphere was gone, the water washed away, the pain was gone, and the darkness was vanquished as the sun rose high in the sky and a feeling of warmth and security enveloped him.

Paul hazily opened his eyes and immediately closed them again as the sun momentarily blinded him. He felt some form of shade over his face and tried to open his eyes once again, this time being met with Pat’s hand a few feet away from his face blocking out the sun.

“Morning sleepy head~”

“Morning sunshine~” Paul smiled widely, knowing that Pat must have been the one who chased away his nightmare. The two of them sat there for a while getting lost in each others eyes before being interrupted by the simultaneous growning of their stomachs.

“Hehe, I guess it’s time for breakfast.” Pat chuckled lightly before getting up and extending his hand to Paul who accepted it and was pulled to his feet. The two of them traveled to the kitchen. Pat needed to gather the materials but after that Paul took over, showing off his skills as a master baker/chef.

While Paul made the pancakes he told Pat stories of how he learned to bake from some children in his kingdom, he had always been better at interacting with kids that adults, they were so proud of their own skills that they were eager to teach him everything they knew. 

Pat chuckled softly, “It sounds like you’d make a great king.” he said with a smile, fondness in his expression.

Paul stopped what he was doing and looked down at his hands, “.... W-what makes you s-say that?”

“Well, from the sounds of it, you regularly take time out of your day to ensure the happiness of your people. Especially the children, you give them time, attention, and respect that will not be forgotten when they take their parent’s place as the next generation.”

“.....Y-you… you really think I-I’d make a good king?”

“I know you’ll be the greatest king.”

Paul smiled at the warmth in Pat’s voice and quickly finished up with their breakfast, choosing to push down all of the doubts he had. With the ingredients available Paul had made pancakes with a fresh blueberry syrup and some scrambled eggs on the side. He set a plate down in front of Pat and then himself. They exchanged some light conversation over breakfast, mostly consisting of Pat asking a seemingly endless array of questions about the world outside his tower. They washed the dishes, leading to a small splash fight and some bubble shenanigans. And they eventually came to lounging around as Paul braided Pat’s hair in various ways, a trick he had learned from some all too eager little girls.

“So how’d you get your mom to leave the tower for so long?” Paul asked.

Pat shrugged, “I told her that I wanted some fabrics from the Green kingdom, I used that excuse before and I’m pretty good at sewing.”

Paul finished another braid, tying it off at the end, “I don’t suppose you can make extravagant ball gowns.” he said with sarcasm, chuckling at the pure stupidity of his own thoughts.

“Actually, yeah. Wanna see?”

He froze, ‘There is no way.’ he thought. “S-sure~”

Pat Grinned brightly and lept up, bounding into his room, returning a few moments later holding up a gown. The dress was long, in the back it had a golden yellow cape that wrapped around the shoulders to form sleeves. The base of the dress was simple, two shades of purple striping down to form the skirt. The whole thing seemed to sparkle.

Paul froze, eyes wide. His hands slowly reached for his bag, for the one thing he always carried, he looked at it for a second before pulling it out, holding it up, and looking into Pat’s eyes. “Sunshine?”

Pat watched with quiet curiosity as Paul reached into his bag but froze when he saw it. A mask, his mask, the same golden color as the cape of his gown. “...Fluffy?”

 

~~~Flaaaaaaashbaaaaaaaaaack~~~

“Is this really necessary?” Paul asked his mother as the castle staff buzzed about in last minute prep for the upcoming party.

“Of course it is, this is where you’ll pick your bride. Every girl in the kingdom will be here, there’s bound to be  _ someone _ you like.” The queen said, too busy directing the servants to notice her son’s distressed looks and quiet muttering.

The next hour or so droned on as Paul got himself ready, dressing in a royal purple suit with silver embroidery, finished off with a silver mask. He combed back his hair, even though it was uncomfortable and just felt wrong in opposition to his usual messy hair. He opened the doors and stepped into the ballroom where the masked guests began to arrive. He smiled and faked happiness, acting the part of a true gentlemen when all he really wanted to do was run off to the gardens away from everything. He had just finished a dance with a rather excitable young girl when he caught the eyes of a stranger across the room. He politely excused himself and made his way across the room.

“Hello.” he greeted simply.

“Oh, hello! Would you like to dance?” They asked as the music started once again.

“I would love to.” Paul responded coolly, trying his damndest not to let his blush and butterflies show. The two of them danced along with every other pair there, but something felt different. The two of them felt like it was just them, dancing among the stars. When the song ended, neither of them wanted to part ways.

“H-have you seen the gardens yet?” Paul silently cursed his stutter for resurfacing.

“I haven’t, would you like to show me?” They had sparkles in their eyes and joy in their voice that made Paul’s heart skip a beat.

“But of course~” He offered his hand and the two of them silently slipped out of the room and into the gardens. The flowers and shrubbery illuminated by nothing but the stars and light spilling out from the castle. They wandered over to the furthest part of the garden and rested on a grassy hill.

“I don’t believe I ever got your name?” Paul asked.

“Well what’s the fun in a masquerade if you know each other's identities?”

“Then what should I refer to you as?”

“How about you tell me?”

“O-ok then… Sunshine~”

“Sunshine huh? I like it~”

“N-now your turn.”

“Hmm, Fluffy.” They said playfully, messing Paul’s hair back to its usual style. The two of them laughed and sat back to enjoy the stars.

“Y-you know, Sunshine… Dancing was p-pretty fun.”

“Yeah, it was. Would you like to dance some more, Fluffy?”

“Y-yes, I would l-love to.” And so the two danced the night away to nothing but the rhythm of their hearts, getting lost in their own little world on the little green hill, until… **bong! Bong!** The bells rang out, signaling the hour.

“Oh, shoot. I’m sorry but I have to go!” Sunshine pulled away and began to run towards the exit.

“W-wait! H-how will I find you again?” Paul called out. Sunshine hesitated for a moment before continuing to run. Paul chased after but all he got was their discarded mask, wet from tears.

 

\---End Flashback---

 

Before Paul even had the chance to say anything he was tackled down by Pat in a tight hug and tears began to dampen his shirt.

“You found me.” Pat whispered between joyful sobs. Paul pushed him off before pulling him into a kiss, not wanting to let his sunshine leave again. Paul quickly realized that maybe Pat didn’t feel the same way and was about to push away to apologize when Pat held him there, he returned the kiss and held onto Paul with the same desperation to never be separated again.

“Let’s run away together.” Pat said once they had eventually pulled away. Paul was too much of an emotional mess to work out a verbal response so he simply nodded with the biggest, most sincere smile he’d ever made. The rest of the day was spent packing and dancing together until they fell asleep cuddling in the ‘nest’ of pillows and blankets from the previous night.


	8. Day 4 Part 2

The morning was somewhat of a dance in itself. A delicate step sequence of affection and preparation, by the time they were actually ready to go it was late afternoon. Paul climbed down first before looking up to Pat expectantly. Pat smiled down at him for a second before taking a deep breath, one last look inside, and…

 

**“I KNEW IT!”** his mother, screeched emerging from the trees  **“I KNEW IT WAS JUST ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR EXCUSES TO LEAVE!!!”**

“It isn’t like that! I mean it is but-” Pat attempted to counter

**“SHUTUP!”** she cried

“H-hey! D-doesn’t he g-get a say in this!?” Paul interjected

**“NO! ENOUGH OF THIS! I’m going to end this charade once and for all~ HAhaHAhaHA”** she laughed psychotically, energy forming around her as she narrowed her eyes at Paul. 

Paul wanted to shrink away, he wanted to run away, but one look at Pat’s face and the pure fear in his eyes and Paul stood his ground. Without a weapon to fight or defend he took on a strong stance and hoped for the fucking best.

Pat wanted to scream, he wanted so badly just to tell Paul to run, but he couldn't he was frozen, terrified that the slightest movement would shatter the world. So he watched.

The witch grinned devilishly from ear to ear and raised a single hand, eyes brightening ever so slightly as her magic circle appeared right behind Paul. A flick of the wrist and…

Paul was launched forwards a few feet and he looked down to his own crimson blood gushing from the fresh wound in his abdomen made by a magic sphere. All of his senses began to shut down as he felt himself fall to the ground.

_ “PAUL!” _ Pat had found his voice just a little too late. Tears openly globbed from his eyes. He turned around and grabbed the first thing that came to mind, a frying pan. He jumped onto the ledge before throwing himself out the window and using all of his momentum and gravity…

**_\---BANG---_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was so short, the next one should be pretty long though.


	9. Day 1 Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took me so long!!! I am unbelievably happy that so many people like my story and are giving so much support! I'm trying my very best but unfortunately I am the worlds worst procrastinator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Matt hums is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBavwwWCdfY  
> (Song of the sea)  
> ((I also feel the need to mention that the 'Tom' Matt interacts with is 'leetle Tom', the monkey toy from fundead))

A purple fin flicked gracefully through the water as a young merman sailed along, exploring the sunken ship. He effortlessly pushed himself through a porthole, pausing and turning back around when  he heard a familiar *clang clang*. He chuckled fondly at his piranha friend, stuck and clanging two shells together desperately to get his attention.

“Hold on, I’ll get you out.” He said. In one fluid motion, he swam through another neighboring hole and circled back, using his momentum to push the piranha through. “There, you’re freeee~ Now we can explore!”

The ginger darted about quickly, eyes sparkling with fascination over the strange foreign objects, as the pale yellow piranha lazily followed. He picked up some strange, oddly familiar, object. “Tom look at this!” He pushed the item into the fish’s face, “It looks kinda like the ‘fork’ and ‘spoon’ that Jon told us about. Do you think it’s used for the same purposes?”

… … …. *clank*

“You’re absolutely right, the only way to find out is to ask Jon.” He smiled brightly, his sharp white teeth shining in whatever sun was shining there from the surface. He quickly grabbed a couple other shiny objects to ask about or to add to his collection of trinkets. “Let’s goooooo!” he chirped, swimming swiftly out of a hole in the side of the ship as to avoid the whole ‘stuck in a porthole’ thingy.

After a while of swift swimming, he came to meet a small cliff with a river flowing through it. He swam upstream, already used to the strong current from his previous travels. As he passed he checked the tower in the forest that held his long-distance friend, but since said friend wasn’t in the window at the time he figured he’d check again on the way back. He continued on his merry way passing only trees. Like seriously, there’s more trees in the forest than there are merpeople in the ocean! He just kept on swim-swaming along until he potted the exact fae he was looking for.

“Jon!” he called.

“Matt!” the blue fairy turned away from his work and zipped over to the river. “So, what have you got for me today?”

Matt pulled himself up to sit on the ground and pulled several objects out of his bag one by one. “Alright, let’s start with this one!” he said, holding up the spoon-fork-thingy.

“Well, that is what’s known as a ‘spork’. A combination of a spoon and a fork that puts the separate utensils to shame.”

“Then why do you still use spoons and forks separately?”

“To make it seem like we’re fancier~”

“Oooooo~ Now what about this one!” Matt held up a glass slipper.

“Well it looks like a shoe made out of glass, but that’s probably just for decoration, some sort of modern art maybe? Regardless, there’s no way  _ anyone  _ could actually wear that.”

The process repeated with the rest of the objects.

“So other than more mirrors this is all you picked up?”

“Yeah, I didn’t have enough bag space.” Matt pouted.

“Hehe, well it’s getting late, you should head home.”

“Ah, sad but true. Bye~~~” Matt waved quickly before diving back into the water with a loud splash.

On the way back he noticed his friend in the window, But he was preoccupied with someone else? It looked like they were having fun so he wouldn’t interrupt, there’s always tomorrow anyways.

He swam straight out of the river and through the ocean waters for a while before .. *clang**clang**clang*

“Hm? What is it Tom?”

Tom nudged Matt in the direction of a certain sunken ship, signaling that they were at their ‘secret base’ aka Matt’s collection of junk.

“Oh, woops! I nearly passed it! Thanks Tomie~” With the easy flick of his shimmering tail he propelled towards the wreck with  an air of elegance. He hummed a little whilst putting his new trinkets away, of course stopping at every mirror to admire his own beautimous face. 

He finished up and was ready to go home when a sudden burst of light and sound form the surface startled him and gained his attention. Despite Tom’s clanks of protest, Matt swam up to the surface to examine the large ship and the noisy bursts of light it was shooting off. His eyes sparkled as the light illuminated the dark night sky. He swam up to the ship and climbed up the side, enough to peer onto the deck but not be spotted. People danced, drank, laughed, and sang, but beyond all that Matt found his eyes lingering on a young male with brown hair and golden eyes playing what appeared to be a small stringed instrument and dance-stepping around a playful grey tabby cat. He looked on as a man with curly brown hair pulled him front and center, presenting a statue of the guy in a very tacky pose. The reaction was laughter and drunken cheers. A laugh that made Matt’s heart skip a beat and then… blue met gold as they locked eyes. They both froze, unsure of how to react, until nature decided for them. 

A flash of lightning, a crack of thunder, the crashing of waves, the spark of a fire. Matt got knocked back into the water by the force of the storm. He frantically resurfaces just in time to see the tabby cat be thrown onto a lifeboat from the blazing fire that had engulfed the ship. The man from before being the one who threw it, was then knocked off balance by the crumbling mast and sent hopelessly falling into the sea where he was then swallowed by waves. 

“EDD!!!” many voices cried out.

Matt dove back down and quickly located Edd who in his last moments of consciousness, reached out for him. Matt grabbed his extended hand and pulled him above the waves, he then shifted so that he could hold Edd’s head above the water and also swim in the same direction as the lifeboats had.

Once they reached a beach within viewing distance of what appeared to be a human castle, Matt pushed Edd onto the sand, pulling himself up beside him. Matt once again found his eyes lingering. He hummed his favorite song, unable to sing it on land as it was a traditional merfolk song, but the notes were beautiful enough to stand alone.

Edd began to stir and hazily opened his eyes, for a split second blue and gold met once more, this time interrupted by the yowls of a distressed cat followed by the shouting of humans. Matt Hastily leapt back into the water and twisted behind a convenient boulder to avoid being seen. He watched the other humans pull Edd to his feet and cheerfully take him inland. 

Matt, having realized that he literally stayed out all night which was not good, hurried home as quickly as he could. Once home he slipped in his room without anyone noticing, thankfully. He laid down in hopes of catching whatever sleep he could and dreaming of the handsome human who caught his heart without words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick little history because I don't know how to shove this into the story but basically all merfolk speak two languages, this is because their native language is similar to that of a dolphins in the sense that it is a series of squeaks, chitters, and trills (Their vocal chords can only function that way under water, on land it would feel the same as screeching your lungs out). They learned to speak english because they made open relations and even combined kingdoms with the Purple kingdom. However, a selfish king looking to make a trade out of the merpeople's unique scales and beautiful appearances caused an all out war, resulting in the Sea kingdom isolating itself from all humans.


	10. Day 2 Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited update has arrived!!!! And it sucks! but i tried.

Matt lazily floated about the castle, flower in hand and Tom bobbing just behind him. Slight circles were somewhat visible under his eyes due to his lack of sleep from the previous night. He hummed happily and swam with a flourishing spiral, stopping and looping back a little ways when he realized he had passed his mother.

“‘Morning Mother~” He sang, swooping a small, fluid circle around her. He gave a gentle hug and slid the flower into her hair, smiling before continuing on his previous path.

“Good morning?” she replied, more than a little bewildered.

“Oooooooh!” a cloud of vibrant orange hair appeared next to the queen.

“What, what are you ‘oooh’-ing Matilda?” she asked, turning to her daughter.

Matilda giggled a little before pulling her long hair out of her face and back into a ponytail. “Matty-boy’s in loooove~” she sang teasingly, snickering more at the look of total confusion on her mother’s face.

“In Love?” her confusion faded to happiness for her son and excitement to meet the one who could make Matt think about a face other than his own.

 

\---

Matt tried to pass some time in his ‘secret base’ but was ultimately kicked out by Tom who apparently had some secret business to attend to in there.

“Fine then, I’ll just hang out with Jon then you meanie.” he pouted, twirling off to the river. Before long he was sailing upstream. He spotted his friend looking wistfully out the window of his tower and splashed to get his attention. 

Once he was paying attention Matt signed  _ ‘what’s with the face Patty-cakes, you in looove?’ _

‘ _ Maybe... but your smugness tells me that you are as well?’  _ Pat countered

_ ‘Oooh busted!’ _ Matt raised his hands in mock surrender.

He visibly giggled at that.

‘ _ So is the lucky fella that scruffy guy I saw in your window yesterday?’ _

_ ‘No, it’s one of the other people i know’ _ Pat raised a brow to emphasize his sarcasm.

‘ _ Well have fun and remember to use protection.’ _ Matt stuck out his tongue to flourish his teasing tone.

Pat blushed profusely ‘ _ how do you even know what that is’ _

_ ‘You can find a lot on sunken ships… speaking of which, I should get going. Have fuuuun’  _ Mat shot a pair of finger guns before diving back into the water.

Pat waved behind him.

 

It wasn’t long before he passed their cabin but knowing that Jon wouldn’t be there at that time of day, Matt continued further inland until he reached the fairy’s garden. “Jon! Jon! JonJonJonJonJon!!!!!!” he called, splashing onto the riverside shore and slapping his hands energetically.

“Matt! Should I be concerned by your level of excitement?” Jon hovered about an inch off the ground, bending down to eye-level with Matt.

“That depends, what could I possibly do to make you concerned?” Mat placed his elbows on the grass and propped his head on his hands, batting his eyes innocently.

“The answer: many, many things.” his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Well is falling in love on that list?”

“First of all: yes, it is very high on that list of reasons to be concerned for you. Second of all: Who are they? What’s their name? How’d you meet?” he spoke with increasing fascination, shifting to mirror Matt’s pose in the air a couple inches above.

“Cute boy, his name’s Edd, I saved him from a shipwreck.”

“Hmmm, so have you made a move yet?”

“Nope. Not yet…”

“Haha, well-” Jon was cut off by his own surprise when Tom splish-splashed out of the water, slapped Matt across the face and flopped gracelessly back into the water.

“Wh- Tom why!?” Matt whined.

“I think he wants you to follow him?” Jon suggests. Tom responds by clanging his shells together twice and bumping into Matt to shove him back down stream.

“I think you’re right, well I guess I’ll see you later then!”

“See ya~ and good luck with your little crush~”

 

“Alright, alright, what’s this all about?” Matt chuckled, letting himself be bopped hastily towards his treasure trove by Tom. His sharp-toothed friend shoved him hastily towards the centre of the decaying ship where, under a dramatic spotlight, stood the tacky statue of the human from the night before. 

“Oh Tom! Thank you!!!” Matt squeals, giving Tom a hug before darting to wrap himself around the statue. He swooned into it’s arms and gasped. “Why Edd, run away with you?” he sighed dramatically before bursting into a fit of giggles.

“So this is where you ran off to?” The queen’s voice chirped from the entrance.

“Mom! Ah- It’s... not what it looks like?” he suggested.

“Well I think it looks like you've fallen head over tail for a human.”

“Ok so it is what it looks like..”

“Look, honey, I know that love is special, but I also know that _ you  _ know why we can't involve ourselves with humans.”

“Yeah, yeah, because of what happened to great great grandpappy, I  _ know _ but-”

“Oh sweetie please not with the ‘but’s, just please  _ promise _ me you won’t be too reckless.”

“Ok…” he sighed. “BUT I just wanna say that just cus some dudes decided to start a war doesn’t mean all humans are bad!”

She simply crossed her arms and gave him a look.

“I promise not to be  _ too _ reckless.” Matt held up his hand in a mock 'scouts honor’ fashion.

“Good, now I’ll leave you to your exploring and adventuring, but do be back before dinner tonight.” she mocked before making her way out, leaving Matt and Tom floating by the hunk of carved stone.

“ _ Snrk _ she said butts~” Matt whispered, restraining his laughter should his mother still be in earshot.

 

“So what now?” Matt asked, surfing aimlessly through the depths. Tom bounced up and down on Matt’s tail to pantomime getting Edd’s attention in the same way he had gotten Jon’s. “Yes, and what part of that isn’t reckless?” Tom made no expression but gave off the aura of someone saying ‘bitch you got a better idea’. Matt held up a finger and gasped like he was about to say something but froze for a moment and his expression dropped with his hand.

**“Looks like you could use a hand?”** Chimed a bubbly feminine voice. A young merwoman popped up in front of his face, “I believe that I have the solution to your problem!” She had short pink hair, scaley freckles that rivaled his own, eyes that battled between blue and green, and a  _ long _ draping tail marbled with pink and black. She smiled toothily at him through a slight overbite and at least  _ seemed _ sincere in wanting to help him.

“Hello there, who are you and why do you want to help me?”

“Oh sorry, I should have introduced myself first, my name is Sarah and helping people is what I do! I’m not surprised if you haven’t heard of me, I try to keep quiet about my trade, don’t want folks hunting me down now do I?” She spoke with a lot of energy in her hands and very animated expressions.

“Oh my that’s lovely! You’d really help me?” Matt’s face lit up.

“Why else would we be here talking? Now I should warn you, my deeds are deals, they require payment.”

“What kind of payment?”

“Hmmm well, to turn you human? Your voice would probably do.” She said, looking a bit puzzled.

“....Why my voice?”

“Plot convenience.” she said quickly, expression and voice falling flat.

“What?”

“Nothing to be concerned with darling, magic can be a bit odd at times but hey! That’s life for ya’!” she clapped her hands together. “So do we have a deal or what?”

“Well I feel like I’m forgetting something….” Matt pondered for a bit as Tom frantically tried to signal him that he’s being reckless as hell, “Nevermind, LET’S DO THIS!” Tom looks off into the distance vibing ‘god fucking damn this lovable idiot’.

She extended her hand and Matt shook it. 

A strong magenta glow enveloped him and his glittering purple tail split into two legs, his scales faded to sun spotted freckles, his fins retracted to nonexistence, and his gills vanished, the only mer-like feature left were his sharp teeth. He struggled frivolously against the water and began to choke. 

“Oh SHIT!” Sarah exclaimed, eyes wide with realization. She twisted around behind him, hooking her arms around his shoulders and spiraled out of the water, guiding Matt to shore with a noticeable amount of difficulty. “Holy shit, I am so fucking sorry! I totally forgot about that part…… aaaaaand several other things.” She chuckled nervously.

Matt, after regaining his breath, began to fascinate himself with his new feet, moving the toes and kicking his legs in the water. He only partially acknowledged Sarah’s words with a nod.

“Ok so here's the deal, you got legs -pretty rad- to keep em’ all ya gotta do is kiss ya princy-boy before the sun sets on the third day. Why? I honestly have no idea. However if you don't then you maaaaay turn into a tiny little beta fish.” She worried one of her fins between her fingers anxiously.

Matt raised a skeptical eyebrow but tossed his head and hand in combination to express 'no problem, I got this!’. 

Tom glared daggers into the sea witch, obviously distrustful of her and the information she 'forgot’ about, at the very least he was grateful she ‘magicked’ him some pants.

Matt attempted to stand up only to immediately fall back on his butt. He attempts this several more times, even getting some assistance from Sarah who would help him balance and eventually got to being able to stand and sorta walk on his own. This effort was interrupted when Matt felt something soft brush up against him. He jumped back but his shock quickly faded to joy as he recognized the small feline as Edd's tabby cat and he began to pet it as it started purring obnoxiously loudly.

“Ringo!” The sound of footsteps running down the beach signaled Sarah to leave and she leapt back into the water, spiraling back into the depths of the sea. Tom popped down as well but stayed in close range as to keep an eye on his love-sick friend.

“Ringo I-” Edd cut himself off when he caught sight of Matt who began waving excitedly. “Hey there, sorry about Ringo, he tends to be quite adventurous. My name’s Edd, what's yours? And, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing out here?”

Matt opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out and he remembered that he was now mute due to magic bullshit.

“What’s wrong, can’t you speak?”

Matt shook his head no.

“Hmm, something bad must have happened for you to end up here without the ability to talk… would you like to stay with me till you get all sorted out?” Edd extended his hand with a kind smile.

Matt nodded his head, eyes glittering and smile wide. He grabbed Edd’s hand and he pulled Matt to his feet, helping to stabilize him and walk him uphill to a castle overlooking the sea.

 

A maid was assigned to help him get cleaned up and so Matt was whisked away by a girl with blue hair and a strong arm. She helped him out of his clothes and into a bath.

“So, what’s ya’ name sugar?” She inquired. Matt already noted that he couldn’t talk so instead he made a motion for her hand. She obligated and Matt began to spell on the palm of her hand, “M-A-T-T. Oh! So your name is Matt then. Is that short for something?” He shrugged, he had always just been called ‘Matt’ nothing more. “Well then Matt, my name’s Laurel and it’s a pleasure to meet’cha.” She finished sudsing up his hair and dumped warm water over his head to wash out the soap.

“Sooo, what are your feelings for prince Edward?” Laurel questioned. Matt melted down a little with starry eyes over the thought of Edd, but he turned to her in confusion and palm-spelt ‘P-R-I-N-C-E-?’ “Ooooh, so ya have a thing for him and you didn’t even know he was royalty! I ship it.” Matt visibly but inaudibly laughed at her last statement.  She grabbed a big fluffy towel and handed it to him, instructing Matt to get out of the tub. Matt enjoyed wrapping himself in the warmth.

“Ya’ know, I really think you’d be able to rock a dress. Too bad your a guy..” Matt put a hand on her shoulder, waved his index finger, and did a slight hair toss into a sassily-fabulous pose. Laurel’s face lit up in delight.

She dressed Matt in a plain but elegant purple sundress with a green shawl and guided him into the dining room and to his seat, whispering a quick “Go get im’ tiger” and sauntering off to find a good spying spot.

As Matt walked in Edd was starstruck, his face dropped into an expression of awe. He didn’t catch what Laurel whispered but judging by her stifled giggling, he knew for certain that she was already shipping them.

The dinner was relatively uneventful and spent mostly by Matt and Edd stealing awkward glances at eachother before Matt decided to be bold and the two of them ended up staring into eachothers eyes for a while (Laurel’s fangirling could be heard in the distance. Edd’s royal adviser, Bing, and the butler, Larry, were there too but Bing did nothing but roll his eyes at their stupid lovey-dovey-butalsonot nonsense while Larry snuck off every now and then to join Laurel. (They’ve already drawn fanart cuz they’re fuckn’ nerds).

“So!” Bing finally speaks up towards the end of their meal, “Edd, how about you take your friend here on a tour of the kingdom tomorrow?” Bing honestly looks like he wants to die, he’s just trying to get the lovebirds out of his face.

“That sounds like a great idea! What do you think?” Edd turned to Matt who nodded his head with a smile.

“Splendid! I’ll just go get that planned right now!” Bing exclaimed, all but sprinting out of the room. The two of them laughed at his obvious retreat, Edd’s laugh was uneven with a bit of a snort to it but Matt could not have possibly found it more charming. Matt’s laugh was inaudible because of his trade but with the way his eyes went to crescents and his shoulders shook, it was clear what was happening.

 

After dinner Matt and Edd are lead off to their separate rooms and Matt ends up having a slumber party with Laurel and Larry painting nails and receiving romance advice.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next update may/may not take even longer to write so please remain patient with me.


	11. Day 3 Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! I done did it! I made my Christmas update. It was a little rushed but probably just as good as it would have been if I put it off another month. Anyways; Happy holidays whatever it may be that you do or do not celebrate~

Matt stretched out like a cat and yawned. He sat up to survey his surroundings. Matt sat on a plush bed covered in various scattered pillows and blankets as well as Laurel and Larry who apparently fell asleep there the night before. The room was a guest room in Edd’s castle with a fairly simplistic layout; a wide space with a large bed, a nightstand, a wardrobe, a dresser, and a small desk. There was also a decently sized balcony overlooking the sea.

The ginger carefully slid off the mattress, trying not to disturb the other two sleeping blobs. He crept over to the glass doors and slid them open, getting hit with a brisk ocean breeze. He stepped out and grabbed hold of the railing, leaning over it to fully take in the view. The sun was rising in the distance, painting the sky a thousand different colors and causing the water to glitter as waves crashed against the shore and washed across the beach. The wind blew through his hair and across his cheeks in mother nature’s sweet embrace and there he let himself float on that same warm feeling that he got when thinking of his prince.

Speaking of the prince, Matt leaned further over the railing and looked to the side to see Edd standing on the adjacent balcony. Edd looked disheveled and unnerved as he gazed past everything. Matt jumped out a little further and waved excitedly and Edd turned to the movement in his peripheral vision, now snapped out of his trance, and waved back with a smile. 

He maaaaay have gotten a little too excited because next thing Matt knew, his palm slipped off the rail and he was toppling forward. Edd looked like he was gonna scream before two sets of hands grabbed on to Matt's shirt and yanked him backwards.

“Well, that's one way to start the day!” Laurel chuckled, running a hand through her hair keeping the other on Matt's shoulder.

“You need to be more careful! What were you thinking!” Larry huffed.

Matt rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He then turned his attention back to Edd who was turned towards the trio and leaning back on the railing. Edd then slipped himself and everyone jumped in alarm. The young prince caught himself and sank to his knees before erupting in relentless bubbly laughter. Everyone let out a sigh of before joining in the laughter.

 

Laurel was puzzling between what dress to put Matt in that day when Larry brought in a lovely short blue skirt with purple-y bubbles embroidered on it with a purple quarter sleeve shirt and navy blue flats.

“He seems to prefer the more feminine-flowy style and I personally think that purple is definitely his color.” Larry stated with professional smugness.

“Well it looks like you're trying to do my job for me.” Laurel teased back.

Matt of course  _ LOVED _ the outfit. He met up with Edd for breakfast. Edd was outfitted with baggy beige pants, a white t-shirt, a green jacket with the sleeves bunched up and a green bandana around his wrist. They sat down and began breakfast.

“I am so sorry, but it dawns on me that I never got your name.” Edd noted, an embarrassed blush heating his ear tips.

Matt attempted to air-spell to him since they were sitting too far apart to draw on his palms.

“Gaaaa, I can't read thaaaat.” Edd whined.

“Matt! Here, it looks pretty cloudy out so I brought you an umbrella that matches your outfit~” Laurel appeared, handed Matt the blue hook-handled umbrella, shot Edd a wink, and was out of the room before either of the boys could react.

“She's not very subtle, is she, Matt?” The brunette giggled.

It took a minute for Matt to register but once he did he smiled like the sun and chuckled soundlessly.

 

The boys were headed out for their 'date’ and Laurel bounced with excitement. Larry had to drag her back into the castle so that they could actually do their jobs and not meddle too much.

They rode a carriage through the town, Edd pointing out the sights and occasionally stopping to introduce Matt to some of his friends. Matt delighted in the chance to meet all sorts of new people (mostly human but there were a variety of races there) he found himself forgetting his inability to speak for words could not describe his joy and excitement.

“Alright, I don't know if you've had candy floss before but this is the best of the best!” Edd held out the paper cone topped with a cloud of glistening pink fluff. He tore off a piece and tossed it in his mouth with a smile.

Matt eyed the fluff curiously, poking it a couple times and causing Edd to bubble with laughter. He tore off a piece and sniffed it before popping it in his mouth. His eyes widened and he grinned from ear to ear as the sugary blob dissolved in his mouth.

“So you liked that?”

Matt nodded vigorously, already putting another wad in his mouth.

“Well then, how about this?” Edd asked, pulling out a bottle full of dark bubbling liquid with a flashy red label. “It's called Cola and we only have it here because of trade with the red kingdom, it's my favorite!”

Matt took the bottle and tried and struggled to open it, about to resort to teeth when Edd took the bottle and opened it with ease and handed it back with an unhindered smile. As soon as Matt took a sip he practically began vibrating before he actually began jumping up and down, radiating energy. Matt had an idea from something he saw earlier and tugged on Edd’s hand for him to follow. Edd took a quick sip of Cola for himself before sprinting down the street to wherever Matt had decided they needed to go, the both of them were beaming with happiness.

 

Edd rowed the two of them out into the center of the most beautiful cove he had ever seen. Matt had taken them to a boat rental shop and directed him on which way to go.

The cove had a lot of natural shade from the sun as well as the most gorgeous foliage and the clearest water he’d ever seen.

Matt watched intently as Edd took it all in. He knew Edd would like it because other than his own treasure trove, this was easily the most beautiful place he knew.

Edd turned to Matt, looking like there were words forming in his mouth, right on the tip of his tongue but not coming out.

The two stared at each other starry-eyed and love-stricken. Without truly acknowledging their actions, the two leaned in closer.

The world around them ceased to exist.

And….  **_Splash!_ **

The boat knocked over, throwing the both of them into the water and thoroughly drenching them. They struggled for bearings and Matt gould swear he saw a glimmer of pink out of the corner of his eye but chose to ignore it for the time being. They eventually dragged themselves out of the water. They took some time to catch their breath before rowing back to town.

By the time they were able to return the boat, a heavy downpour hit them.

“Seriously!?” Edd exclaimed, gesturing up to the sky.

Matt held out the umbrella that Laurel had given him earlier and popped it open, holding it over them.

“Ya’know… this would be a lot more convenient if we weren’t already soaked.” Edd giggled.

The two of them started back towards the palace and in a brief moment of bravery, Matt wrapped an arm around Edd and felt his heart leap out of his chest as he watched The brunette’s smile widen as his ears turned red.

As soon as they stepped in the door Larry was there to fuss over them as Bing scolded them for staying out so long and getting themselves soaked. In the background Laurel could be seen with the smuggest grin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'ma make a quick world-note: The world is largely dominated by humans but any and all raced in D&D and Pathfinder exist in this world (and then some). Feel free to ask any questions in the comments cuz I'm bad at words.


	12. Day 4 Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were already mad at me; I apologize in advance.

Matt woke up with a start. His subconscious mind and the spell’s deadline had given him all the motivation to express how he felt to Edd one way or another. He had rushed up and hurried off to find Laurel so he could be dressed properly, when he heard Edd’s voice. In his excitement, Matt skipped across the hall and over to the staircase where he heard the others speaking.

“A-are you sure about this sire?” Bing asked with an almost concerned but most certainly puzzled face, from behind him Larry and Laurel narrowed their eyes suspiciously.

Edd was dressed far fancier than he had been the day before and had his right arm linked with the left of a young lady with short but floofy dark blond hair and blue-green eyes.

“Yes, we are to be married by sundown.” Edd commanded. There was a distant look in his eyes and no tone in his voice that only made the two onlookers glare harder.

Matt felt his stomach drop to the floor. His heart cracked as tears burned his eyes. ‘I have to get out of here, I can’t let anyone see me like this, I was wrong, I was stupid, I’m always stupid and now I’m going to pay for it.’ he thought. Just as Matt turned to run a small hiccup escaped his lips from between his fingers.

 

Matt was once again buried under the covers he had left so recently that they were still warm. Breathing racked his body, his hands shook, his nose was runny, and a liquid as painful as lava gushed from his sea-blue eyes. He heard the door open with what sounded like a slam that was caught before it hit the wall and closed with nothing more than a soft click.

“Matt honey, are you ok?” Laurel asked, comfort and concern to accompany.

Matt didn’t know how to respond but it seems he didn’t have to because she went ahead and seated herself next to him on the bed, gently tugging the blankets off of his face and holding her arms out for a hug. Matt accepted the hug and cried into her shoulder as she rubbed comforting circles into his back.

 

Edd and his ‘fiance’ walked across the beach towards the boat being hastily prepared for the wedding.

Larry walked along a porch railing a ways away from the ‘couple’ watching and listening while trying his damndest not to get caught doing so. Both Bing and Laurel also knew something was up and decidedly pinned _ him _ to stalk the girl for suspicious activity.

Tom didn’t know  _ exactly _ what was going on but he did know that that sea witch was shady and his idiot friend’s crush was rubbing up against another girl with the ginger nowhere in sight.

“Oh Edd, darling~” The girl mocked in a high-pitch voice before stifling a deep maniacal laugh. “Now this is simply  _ too _ easy. I gotta say that moron got pretty close yesterday, had me a little worried but now things are just gonna go  _ my _ way~”

Her voice had easily dropped a solid three pitched from the way she had been talking earlier and her body was moving far more animatedly; now that was definitely suspicious. Larry snuck off to inform the others and on the other side of the beach something clicked inside Tom’s brain and he scuttled off in a hurry to get backup.

 

“She’s definitely pulling something and if we don’t do something then our next queen is going to be a manipulative psychopath.” Larry stated to finish off his summary of what he saw. Larry was now standing in the guest room that Matt has been staying in. He found Bing first and dragged him along to find Matt and Laurel before saying anything.

“So then what do we do about it?” Bing asked skeptically.

“Well gentlemen…” Laurel began, getting up and placing a hand on each of their shoulders “I believe we have a wedding to crash.”

 

Tom swam determinedly across the span of water and upstream. The cottage was empty and so was the garden so he continued upstream until he found exactly who he was looking for.

“Wh- Tom!?” Jon exclaimed as he turned around to see the piranha flopping about for their attention. Jon was still struggling to rub the tears from his eyes from whatever he had jumped in on but there was no time to worry about that.

“The fuck! Can’t we have a break for five seconds!” Eduardo exclaimed, clearly also looking distressed.

Mark put a hand in front of the dwarf to stop him from freaking out too much. “Jon, what’s he trying to say?” he asked calmly.

Jon jumped a little before leaning down and lightly touching the fish’s forehead, light blue magical energy spreading to cover the both of them. After a moment he fell backwards “FUCK” he screamed.

Eduardo and Mark shared a look before falling to their knees on either side of him. The fae began talking so fast in such a panic it was no longer even words.

“Woah woah woah, calm down, slow down, talk normal.” Eduardo stated firmly.

Jon took a deep breath and look them in the eyes with an anger that neither of them had seen in years. “Matt’s in trouble.”

 

The plan was going well, all things considered. They’d gotten Matt all fancied up in a white suit with a pastel purple shirt, a dark purple tie, and extra long coat tails for dramatic effect. They’d then snuck him aboard, being sure not to let the ‘bride’ see. Now it was just a matter of timing as the three of them scrambled about to both prep the wedding and crash it.

The wedding was going well but Bing wasn’t about to let that happen as he lit an entire barrel of fireworks. They exploded noisily in a hundred brilliant colors, successfully drawing everyone’s attention and stalling the wedding.

On the other side of the boat Larry sighed at his friend’s lack of subtlety as he opened several barrels of water across the deck to start some panic and hopefully prevent a fire from Bing’s display.

The second Laurel saw her friend’s antics she knew it was time to start the dramatics to encourage a panic in the crowd and began wailing about how the boat was going to sink.

Matt took the ruckus as his cue and dashed to the upper deck, throwing open the door.

The girl screamed at the sight of everything going down and placed herself between Matt and Edd and began advancing with magic energy crackling through her fists. Just as she did so a dwarven figure tackled her to the ground.

“Matt, are you ok?” Elven hands pulled him to the side a bit and he was met with Mark’s worried face.

Matt nodded before whipping around again to see Eduardo pulling himself off the ground with a hearty laugh, “Take that ya’ bitch!”. Turning a little further he saw Jon standing with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. Matt tried to speak but when nothing came out he settled for turning to Mark with a confused gesture.

“We were told you needed help.” He stated, pointing to Tom who was currently flopping his was across the deck towards the dazed girl still furiously trying to get her bearings. He located a shell necklace and smashed it. Energy crackled out of the shards directly towards Matt as he felt the air leave his lungs and his voice come out in the form of an audible gasp. 

**“NO!!!”** the witch screeched, hair quickly fading to bright pink, scales replacing freckles, and teeth sharpening to fangs. A few feet back Edd staggered and held his head in his hand for a second before looking up.

“Edd!” Matt shouted, his voice cracked a little but he paid it no mind as he bounded forwards.

“Matt!?” Edd’s voice returned as he too began running forwards.

Before they could reach each other a firm hand shoved into Matt’s middle just as the sun set over the horizon. Magenta energy enveloped The ginger and turned him back into a merman. Small gasps echoed across the ship.

The witch smiled wickedly  **“You’re** **_mine_ ** **~”** and with that her own spiraling, tail at least three times longer, appeared and dragged him towards the side of the boat. Matt screamed as he dug his nails into the floorboards trying to keep himself grounded. The others sprinted towards him to help but Edd was the only one to make it in time. Edd grabbed Matt’s wrists the second they left the deck and he braced his feet against the side for better resistance against the witch’s grasp. She chuckled and sent and electric pulse through Matt making him to shriek in pain and release his grip. Edd tried to hold on but the electricity shocked his muscled and forced him to let go as well. He watched helplessly as the love of his life was dragged into the sea.

He shakily leapt to his feet and began to hop the rim when several pairs of hands all pulled him back.

“Hold on! You can’t just go rushing in!” Bing shouted.

“What is even going on!?” Laurel cried.

Larry said nothing but clearly shared the same panic as the other two.

“MOTHERFUCKER!” came an enraged voice from a few feet behind. Eduardo ran up to the railing and leaned over it

“Calm down.” Mark said, following close behind.

“Calm Down!?! I am NOT losing a Second friend today!!” he shouted back, looking like he was ready to jump off the ship.

A small, nimble hand placed itself on Edd’s shoulder and he turned to see a blue fairy with a strongly determined expression. Edd felt a charge with a blue aura surround him, “Go get him.” 

And with that Edd leapt after Matt, ignoring the distressed screams behind him. He expected to have to hold his breath but the water came in as easy as air and swimming felt like flying.

Edd caught sight of Matt in the arms of the witch, struggling against her grasp. He was quite a distance from them but rushed down towards them.

 

Matt thrashed with all his might but it seemed to have no effect on the strength of her grip.  **“Now,now. I’m simply taking up my end of the bargain~”** she cooed. The magenta mana came back again and he felt dazed all the sudden, his strength leaving him and the world around him getting bigger.

“Stop right there!” The queen’s voice commanded. And there she stood, blade drawn to the witch’s throat. “Let go of my son.” she snarled.

**“Oh your highness! But you must be aware of our deal?”** She held up a glass orb containing a small purple betta fish with sea-blue eyes.

Her expression dropped as she caught sight of the baby betta before hardening again as she glared back into the witch's crazed blue-green eyes, “What do you want?” the queen growled

**“Hmm, ya’ know, I’m glad you asked. I want your power~ Magic power to be specific. I’m going to need it for our story's finale~”**

“Fine.” she spat, extending her hand.

**“Ooooh, so cooperative~”** she chirped, shaking the queen’s hand. And just like that the witch's magical energy exploded around them, Matt whirled at the feeling of returning to normal as he looked to see his mother across from him turn into a blue betta fish encased in a glass orb. Before he could truly process what had just happened, a pair of hands pushed the orb into his hands and wrapped around him. Matt blinked a few times to see Edd floating between him and the witch. **“How are you- oooh, fairy magic. I have to say your little friend is very powerful, but I can tell he’s already pushed his limits today, I wonder how long it’ll last? If** **_you_ ** **even last long enough to find out~”** with that the ocean water around them formed a vortex until they were suspended in the air by powerful wind as she summoned lightning from all directions.

Matt and Edd clung to each other, screaming until the air was knocked out of them as a lasso looped over their heads and yanked them back onto the wooden deck of the ship.

“That bitch is insane!” Eduardo shouted over the howling wind, untying the rope from around them. Laurel and Larry instantly started fussing over the two of them, Mark stared thoughtfully at the current evil summoning a storm that pulled them in closer and closer, and Jon sat on his knees gasping for air. Eduardo then moved to support Jon, “So what the fuck do we do now!?”.

Matt look down at the orb in his hands and into his mother’s eyes, then to Edd who was currently kneeling beside him, arms wrapping around him protectively and propping him up, “We take her down.” he stated bluntly.

“Ok yeah, but how!?!?” Larry shrieked.

“Any way we can.” Edd stated, locking eyes with Matt.

Larry responded by furrowing his brows and gesturing furiously to the magenta ball surrounded by lightning and floating above a vortex of water.

“I got an idea.” Bing said, rolling out several more barrels of fireworks. Larry took a deep inhale before face palming.

“Actually that’s not a bad idea; anyone know how to rig up an impromptu catapult?” Mark spoke up.

“My time has come.” Laurel looked into the distance dramatically.

“There is NO way we have time for that.” Eduardo pointed out.

“Not with that attitude there isn’t.” Edd retorted, accompanied by Matt’s laugh. Edd looked down at the ginger with starry eyes, a subtle blush, and a wide smile, “You have the most beautiful laugh.”

“Gaaaa, get a room!” Bing shouted, hefting a barred towards the now much closer witch. While his throw wasn’t quite enough to get it there, lightning struck the barrel, setting it ablaze and causing it to burst in an explosive display of rainbow colors. The witch squealed, hopping back a few feet in the air. She then grinned wickedly and slowly raised her hands before violently slamming them down and, in an extravagant show of power, cleared the water from around them and encircling them in a solid cage of ocean water whilst beaching their boat.

**“So that’s now it is! Well if it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’ll get!”** She pushed one hand out in front of her before raising it above her head and twirling around. From the water marched hundreds of water soldiers encased in that same dreadfully familiar magenta energy.

“UUUUHHHH GUYS! THIS IS A PROBLEM!!!” Eduardo screamed. A distant explosion is heard and everyone turns to Bing who has now teamed up with Mark to light barrels and launch them at hords of soldiers. “WELL OK THEN!?!?”

“Destroying them could go on for forever, we need to stop her in order to stop those things.” Jon said, still sitting on the ground and overall looking completely exhausted.

“So let’s take her down!” Laurel exclaimed, shoving a wooden plank into Eduardo’s hands before ripping out another floorboard for her own improvised weapon. She then vaulted over the railing.

“She’s crazy!” Larry exclaimed, he then took a look around him, “Then again what isn’t crazy at this point!” He grabbed hold of a nearby chair and followed Laurel’s lead, vaulting over the ship’s railing.

Eduardo shot Jon a worried glance before leaping after the other two.

Edd shot up, ready to rush into battle himself, but he was halted by a slender, trembling hand gripping onto his sleeve. 

Matt had his eyes shut tight, tears streaking his cheeks and lip quivering as he bit down on it so hard he tasted iron, he held onto Edd like his life depended on it. “Please,” he began, voice cracking, “This is my fault, I was stupid, so  _ fucking stupid _ ! Just please, stop this!” He opened his eyes to look pleadingly into Edd’s, “PLEASE JUST LET  _ ME _ PAY FOR  _ MY OWN _ STUPIDITY!” he wailed.

Edd crouched down in front of Matt and held Matt’s face in his hands, “None of this is your fault. And even if it was, none of us would blame you… I  _ want _ to fight for you Matt …  _ because I love you. _ ” With that Edd planted a soft kiss on his forehead before swiftly grabbing a chair and bounding after the others who had run off to fight.

Matt held out a hand after him, but he couldn’t stop Edd from leaving. He hugged the orb containing his mother tightly to his chest, tears globbing down his face.

 

Those on the ground screamed out battle cries, using whatever improvised weapons they could find to destroy the watery soldiers, slowly making their way towards the witch but still not very far from the ship.

**“I’d love to keep this little cherad going, but I’ve got a schedule to keep (and writing fight scenes is not my specialty, lemme tell ya)”** she flicked her hand in the general direction of the four fighting on the ground, showering them in beams of lightning.

“Gaaa! COME DOWN HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!” Eduardo shouted.

“YEAH!” Edd backed.

**“Well aren’t you two eager to die?”** she sneered, pointing her hands more precisely.

 

Matt dragged himself across the deck to the railing where Jon was sitting.

“Keep her safe for me.” Matt pushed the orb into Jon’s hands.

“What are you going to do?” Jon looked between Matt and the orb concernedly.

Matt pulled himself to sit on the railing above Jon’s head and grabbed one of the ropes connecting to the mast, “Something.” and with that he pushed back, sending himself falling to the ground. The rope tightened and swung diagonally, allowing Matt to swing directly into Edd and Eduardo to push them out of the way as electricity cracked through the witch’s finger tips.

 

Edd’s eyes went wide as Matt pushed him out of the way of the attack, effectively going to take the entirety of the blast himself, and kicked his foot into the scorched sand. Edd pivoted and quickly braced himself directly in front of Matt.

**_Crack_ **

Lightning blazed through the air and struck Edd directly in the back, tearing through his shirt and burning his skin as he falls limp to the ground, jolting every few seconds.

Matt hit the ground just as Edd did. He reaches out with trembling hands to wrap them around Edd.

 

_ Everything went black. _

 

**_\--”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”--_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure this is my longest chapter yet but we got a lot more shit to get through and we've just barely begun! (also help fight scenes and timing are so haaaaard)


	13. Writer's PSA

Ok, so I finally properly came up with all the world-building stuff (Shoulda had that mapped out first but it’s like one of my first fics so cut me some slack) and I’ma just type y'all up a quick page about that sweet, sweet side stuff that has been referenced but not directly explained.

 

Also after writing from the sick and twisted void that is my brain space I need to say **_TRIGGER WARNING_ ** _: Mentions of abuse, murder, racism/slavery, and rape/non-con!_ You have been warned!

 

Magics/Races: So magic works differently depending on who’s wielding it, namely their race, but it always appears as a glow generated from their focus (the more powerful beings don’t need any focus other than their own bodies). Using too much magic will physically exhaust the user and overusing too much could even result in death.

Fae are the most naturally powerful but due to their immortality (they don’t die of old age, they must be killed by an outside force) they naturally view all other races as inferior and stay hidden from the mortal eye and those who do choose to be see are often hunted and killed for profit of rituals.

Merfolk hold powerful magic in them as well, it is best harnessed with a focus but using one is overall unnecessary. The Sea kingdom once kept close touch with the other races but after a gruesome war with the Purple kingdom they sealed themselves away and kept inside the bubble that was their city and lost touch with their natural magic. The power lies dormant within them, typically triggered by extreme emotions, and is strengthened by spending time outside their home, reconnecting with the rest of nature. Merfolk lives span anywhere from 40 to 400 years, depending on many factors, however due to the pollution caused by the industrialization of the other kingdoms, it tends to fall on the lower end of that spectrum.

Elves are the next in line, they have some natural power but need a focus such as a wand and typically stick to potions. There are few elves living in the region because as the kingdoms expanded into the forest, they would offer them the choice to either become a loyal citizen or die where they stood. Those who did choose to become citizens of the kingdom have long since lost touch with their magic and don’t know how to use it. Modern elven life spans tend to stretch to a couple hundred years as opposed to their woodlen ancestors who lived to be a couple thousand years.

Dwarves, Humans, Kenku, Bugbear, Orcs, and just about any other race (with a few exceptions that I would list if they were relevant to the story) have no natural magical capabilities. Humans rule the kingdoms and from times long ago sought to keep it so by keeping the population to just humans, this of course changed over time, they forced native elves to join them and enslaved dwarves from overseas to work for them. Things got better (less racist) but the diversity of the three inland kingdoms did not change. The Green kingdom however gained much diversity through it’s trades and is easily the most racially accepting of any of them.

Witches are humans (male, female, or other) who obtain wild amounts of magic energy from rituals. These used to mainly involve unicorns but as they went extinct witches became more rare and those who remain got more creative.

 

Politics: Ok so I know I already said a lot about politics with the races buuut….

Purple kingdom is known as the kingdom of peace, this is because of their strong militia but refusal to join in the Red and Blue wars. The Purple kingdom consists largely of artisans who would far rather leave the other kingdoms be.

Red kingdom is known as the kingdom of industry, they have the most development as far as technology; cars, factories, etc. The city itself is dense, most of the buildings constructed of metal and the castle is designed like a giant iron dome.

Blue kingdom is known as the kingdom of beauty, the half facing the Red kingdom is heavily industrialized but the other half is quaint houses, shops, markets, and farms. No household if seen without a small flower garden and the produce is better than anywhere else.

Green kingdom is known as the kingdom of trade. Not much else new can be said about them. They are peaceful, diverse, and do a lot of trade. Done.

The Sea kingdom is basically atlantis. There are a lot of stories surrounding them and their history with the Purple kingdom ranging anywhere from a love affair to a framed assassination, but the basic gist is that the Purple and Sea kingdoms actually used to be connected but then broke apart, each teaching morbid stories about the other to their children until the truth faded from memory.

 

Songs: Ok this is just a personal note because I had next to nothing planned when I first started.

TomTord chapters- I’m a slut for romantic dancing in the rain.

PaulPat chapters- I thought a song would be a good way to introduce their segment but then I kinda went ‘well how the fuck would Pat know any songs?’ the answer probably should have been that he heard his mom singing but my brain doesn’t do basic fuck’n logic and I was listening to Taylor swift and brainstormed up a stupid thing (this is where I decided to mix cinderella into the rapunzel spin-off) ‘what if [cinderella mix in] happened and Paul wrote that song and just kinda went for long walks in the woods singing it?’ and thus that song use happened.

EddMatt chapters- music was a huge part of the movie and I was like ‘yeah! Music in every segment!’ but then I couldn’t find a great song and kinda fucked up trying to put it into the first chapter and then I just dropped it.

 

A thing I forgot to explain: SO when Pat and Matt first met they actually tried yelling but it was kinda hard to keep up for a full conversation and Pat didn’t really want to risk exposing their friendship to his mother so he tossed Matt a book (which he had already memorized himself) of sign language and Matt memorized it as well so that’s how they were communicating. Sign language isn’t globally known so Matt couldn’t use it to communicate with Edd and the gang (besides he didn’t really have the time to teach them. Also Matt  _ could  _ have written notes to Edd but it kinda just didn’t come to him and Laurel was having too much fun watching them try to overcome that barrier to point it out to them (so was Larry, he was just more subtle about it) and Bing was too busy trying to avoid them and their gross couple-y stuff.

 

Character backstories: I know I have no way to flush these out in the main plot so I figured it’d be easiest to lay it out now.

Tord: He was born just after the king died a horrible and mysterious death, the hope was that he could unite the Red and Blue kingdoms but then Tom (a male) was born and the kingdom lost all hope. The queen largely ignored and neglected Tord and so did the people, he met Paul at a diplomatic meeting and just kinda kept in touch with him because they could relate to each other and came to be as close as brothers.

Tom: Tom was born after Tord, the kingdom rejected him as he could not unite their kingdoms. The king and queen tried again and again, resulting in many miscarriages before the queen died. Tom was despised throughout his kingdom before he was even given the chance.

Pat: His birth parents abandoned him in the streets of Purple kingdom where his ‘mother’ found him and took him in. She detested mankind and chose to raise him strictly isolated from the rest of humanity.

Paul: He was always rather shy and found that he was not naturally good at anything that his father had deemed ‘necessary for a king’ and was shunned for being as such. The adults always looked down upon him so he found it far easier to socialize with young children. The kids taught him to bake, sew, braid, a particularly rambunctious group even taught him how to pick locks and sword fight. They taught him basically all of the skills he now knows. He developed his unfortunate stutter due to his father hitting him every time he spoke.

Matt: Actually not much to say here because he had a loving single mother and a rock’n older sister and a kingdom that adored him, this being the unintentional cause to his obliviousness and recklessness.

Edd: Also not much to say, his parents are frequently away but always make sure to write and Edd, being the social butterfly that he is, knows almost every citizen of Green.

Eduardo: He was born in a far away land and shipped illegally to the mines of Red kingdom where he was raised as a mining slave. He came to detest humanity because of his circumstances and ran away to the woods where he met Mark and Jon.

Mark: He was born to a tribe of woodland elves around the time that the kingdoms expanded, forcing elves to either join them of die. His people were mercilessly slaughtered in front of him and he was about to join them if not for Jon’s intervention.

Jon: He was centuries old and saw no reason to despise humans the way the other fae did and made himself visible to them, he was quickly captured by a particularly cruel bunch of humans who chain him up in iron (which burns fae in case ya didn’t know) and extract his blood to sell to witches and rape and torture him for their own pleasure. They keep him alive but subject him to a fate worse than death for which he breaks free kills them. Jon decides to wreak havoc amongst the humans and sets up a little shack in the woods to rest in. One day he spots a group of humans and is ready to strike when he catches the scent of blood- elven blood. He looks closer to see humans dressed in shiny blood-splattered armor, standing in a clearing littered with the bodies of slaughtered woodland elves and towering over a crying elf child with bright blonde hair. He uses his magic to freeze the soldiers just before a sword swings down on the poor child’s head. He pulls young Mark away from the scene before toppeling and shattering the iced men. While befriending, raising, and eventually falling in love with Mark, Jon softens up and together they slowly start to see the good in humanity again. Eventually they find Eduardo as well and set up a little world of their own, content with spending whatever time they had left with each other.

 

Artifacts: Ok so I made these a thing that exist but then I forgot to give them any relevance so here’s a lil fun-facts stuffs. Each kingdom has a symbolic artifact used to coronate the next heir, each being made at least partially of both gold and silver and fitted with five gemstones, one representing each kingdom. The artifacts are as follows:

Red - twin daggers

Blue - broadsword

Purple - gauntlet

Sea - septer

Green - rapier

Tom and Tord both possess their kingdoms artifacts by accident; Tord thought the daggers looked cool and no one paid enough attention to him to notice and Tom stole his out of spite and- once again- no one fucking noticed. Everyone else has yet to inherit or stumble upon theirs. The only other person who has seen an artifact is Paul whose father not only hit him with it but also constantly spat on him by saying he’d never be good enough to inherit it.

 

Also! I made a Tumblr for this fic! :D Feel free to ask any questions or make art requests for the characters! [ https://ew-fairytale-fic.tumblr.com/ ](https://ew-fairytale-fic.tumblr.com/)


	14. Day 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! If y'all haven't seen it already; I made a Tumblr for this fic!  
> https://ew-fairytale-fic.tumblr.com/  
> I've drawn some art and stuff and you can ask any questions that you may have~

Matt had released some crazy magic energy that obliterated the witch out of existence but her magic held where it was, a giant crater in the ocean, hundreds of watery soldiers frozen like a picture, the sea queen nothing more than a tiny betta fish in a glass ball. Matt passed out and both he and Edd were rushed to the castle. Mark had a stash of healing potions back home that could help and thus the three of them obtained a boat and made the long trip home. Jon had initially gotten them to the scene by flying them there with magic but he overdid it, spell after spell and now he laid passed out against Mark. The air around them is silent as Eduardo rows back towards the forest and the two of them mentally curse their failures from the day. It was pitch black with the exception of moonlight but in truth it was just very early in the morning.

They reach the shore and Mark begins carrying Jon piggy-back style as they follow the river. The river is long and winding and ordinarily it’d be quicker to cut through the woods but they couldn’t afford to get lost and their house was right against the river so that was their safest bet.

They continued along for a while until they heard… crying? Walking a ways further revealed a tall tower obscured from every other angle by the tall redwood trees. In the grass near the tower are two young men. One with long dark brown hair in a braid cascading all the way up to the tower window sobbing and cradling the other, a scruffy guy, clearly unconscious but still breathing, with his torso wrapped in bloodied cloth. The second one they recognized, the prince of Purple. Eduardo tried to ignore them and pull Mark further along but Jon had already woken up and slipped out of Mark’s grasp.

“Do you need help?” Jon offered, approaching the pair cautiously.

The conscious one looked up at him with a start before reaching up a hand to rub at his eye, “Y-yes- please! I-I don’t know what to do!” he cried.

“Alright, start simple. My name’s Jon, what’s your’s?” Jon kneeled down next to him.

He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes again,“Pat.”

“Ok then Pat, do you think you could tell me what happened?” He placed a reassuring hand on Pat’s shoulder.

“Ugh! We don’t have time for this! We’ve failed to save enough people today, can’t we just quit before we lose each other as well!” Eduardo exclaimed, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. Jon shot him a look equal parts disappointment and concern.

With a sigh, Mark picked up Eduardo, “I’ll talk to him on the way to the cabin, we’ll pick up the supplies and take these two to green kingdom with us, there’s easily enough room in the boat for them.”

“So we’re just going to leave him here alone with those strangers!?” Eduardo squirmed in Mark’s arms.

“I think we both know Jon is perfectly capable of handling himself.” and with that the two of them disappeared into the dark woods.

Jon looked fondly after them, “Sorry about that, we’ve had a rough day.” he said turning back to Pat.

“You’re telling me.” Pat replied with a forced chuckle.

“So, what’s the story?” Jon leaned back a bit on his palms.

“Long story short; my crazy over-protective mother turned out to be a witch who tried to kill the love of my life before I tried to kill her with a frying pan and she disappeared in a puff of smoke.” Pat looked down and grinned remorsefully, “Sounds pretty stupid huh.”

Jon stared wide-eyed at him for a moment, “What is it with witches and fucking up romances today!?” he exclaimed with a smile and furrowed eyebrows.

Pat turned to him, face full of shock and disbelief, “No way…” he whispered.

“Yes way! My day has been crazy enough to lose three friends to two different witches and then still find you two.”

“Well I guess life is just that insane sometimes.”

“Guess so…”

 

"Ok I'm curious, how do you manage hair that long?" Jon asked, gesturing to Pat's braid cascading across the grass.

"With a ridiculous amount of effort." Pat visibly cringed.

"Well if it's so much effort, why do you keep it?" Jon smirked.

"Well my mother- before she-" Pat furrowed his brow, "Well I guess there really isn't any reason to keep it so long anymore..."

Jon giggled and conjured up a small knife by transmuting a stone and a leaf off the ground. He held it out to offer it to Pat. "Feel'n rebellious?" he grinned.

"You know what?" Pat took the knife in his hand and spared a glance down at Paul, "Fuck yeah I am!" He smiled, slashing his hair just above the shoulders.

 

They sit talking for a while, Pat marveling in how much lighter and cooler it is without so much hair and playing with it obsessivly when-

“Gaaaaa, JOOOOOON!” Eduardo groaned, trudging into the clearing and dramatically flopping on his face, “I could not possibly be MORE done with this shit!”

From behind Eduardo, Mark stepped into the light carrying an unconscious tall man with spiky brown hair, the prince of Blue. Next to Mark, holding the prince’s hand stood the prince of Red, Tord, fully alive and well, looking to pretend like he wasn’t just sobbing for hours.

Jon’s eyes brimmed with tears as he tackled Tord in a hug, “You’re Alive!” he cried.

“Like I’d let myself die that easily.” Tord chuckled, but it lacked energy. His eyes drifted down and he held Tom’s hand a little tighter.

“We should probably get headed back, that guy definitely needs medical attention.” Mark gestured to Paul.

Tord then took notice of the two other people in the clearing and for the first time since the curse, he let go of Tom’s hand. He slid to his knees next to Paul, “Oh my god What _Happened_!?”

 

They spent the boat ride chatting, Tord and Pat talking about Paul and getting to know each other as well as everyone talking about their shit day.

“I don’t even think that I really killed her, she just vanished in some kinda dramatic-ass smoke cloud.” Tord added.

“No kidding? The same thing happened to me…” Pat puzzled.

“That…. That’s how it ended with Matt as well…” Jon  stated.

They fumbled in stunned silence.

“You don’t suppose-” Tord started.

“You’ve GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!” Eduardo screamed, hand shaking with the urge yet inability to punch something.

 

They arrived back at the castle of Green as the sun rose above the waves, an insultingly bright and sunny day making it’s start.

“You _can’t_ be serious.” Bing deadpanned.

Paul’s injuries were being tended to and Jon laid passed out on Eduardo on a couch in the common area with Laurel, Tord, Pat, and Matt conversing amongst themselves. Matt sat in a sort of makeshift tank on wheels to give him the ability to stay on land without drying out, he still held his mother in his hands. Off to the side, Mark informed Bing of their conclusion.

“You’re telling me that all these events were caused by some crazy powerful psychopath who not only made copies of themselves and maintained them for years but waited _this_ fucking long to unleash said crazy power!?” Bing exclaimed.

“Yes.” Mark didn’t hesitate nor flinch.

“Well ok sure, sounds reasonable enough. So what do we do with this information?” Bing inquired.

“I think I know where she’d be.” Tord pipes in, “My mo- one of her copies, told me for _years_ that if I ever needed to find her, to go to the Red ballroom. It was always locked but whenever I went to it she would just kinda, appear.”

“Now that just feels too convenient.” Eduardo grumbled.

“Now that you mention it... Sarah, the sea which, she mentioned something once about ‘plot convenience’...” Matt added.

“So what? Are ya’ SER- seriously suggesting we just kick down the fucking doors and storm the castle?” Eduardo started to raise his voice but corrected himself after feeling Jon shift in his lap.

“I don’t see why not.” Pat smirked.

“Yeah!” Laurel cheered.

“Then it’s settled, we’re gonna storm the castle and kick some fucking ass.” Tord grinned maniacally.

“Sounds like a splendid plan!” Bing joined the party of devilish grins.

“Hate to be a downer here,” Larry strode into the room, “But you do realize that our opponent has near god-like power don’t you?”

“But we’re the hero’s, and the good guys never die.” Matt chimes.

“Unless this is a tragedy, in which case we were destined to lose since the start.” Pat looked distantly at the table.

Everyone is silent for a moment.

“Let’s fall into existential crisis later! What are we gonna do right now?” Laurel pepped in.

“I still say we do it, we gear up and rest up today and head out tomorrow to storm the castle.” Tord said. “All who agree?”

Majority shrugged and raised their hands, Larry took a look around and sighed, raising his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah-HA it felt like I'd never make it to this point~ :D  
> Sorry I didn't go very in-depth with some of these scenes, it was just kinda a lot to handle.


	15. Hello~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Breaking the day-to-day patterns of chapter titles now~

Their numbers lessened even more when they set out the next day. Eduardo refused to let Jon come because of how much magic he had used the previous day. Bing, Larry, and Laurel had to stay behind to manage the kingdom and keep an eye on the three incapacitated princes. Mark stayed behind to help out as best he could. Matt planned to go with them as far as the water could reach but without legs he couldn't exactly kick down the castle doors.

 

Pat, Tord, and Eduardo sat in the boat while Matt cruised along next to it. Pat and Tord hit it off really well and Matt enthusiastically joined in their conversations, the three of them filled the air with chatter varying everywhere from their amazing love interests to fashion. Eduardo stayed out of the conversations, instead favoring to bite his nails, a nervous habit.

They made it to land and beached the boat for their return and walked along the river, or swam in Matt's case. It came to part ways from the river they prepared to part ways with Matt when- a magenta glow appeared around the merman and suddenly he turned human again, wearing stylish high waisted jeans and a tucked in pastel purple button up. 

“I have a bad feeling about that.” Eduardo mumbled.

Tord slowly took in a deep breath and raised his hands together directly in front of his nose, “OK! Let's go!” He shouted, turning towards the castle and walking on without waiting for any confirmation from the others.

“Wh- … y'know what, yeah, sure.” Pat threw his hands up and proceeded to follow Tord.

“Wait for me!” Mat shouted, stumbling after them.

“IS NO ONE GOING TO QUESTION THIS FURTHER!?” Eduardo paced to catch up.

 

They made it to the kingdom and caught the eyes of a few citizens. Said citizens either ignored them or, in the case of a few, reported Tord to the authorities.

Tord took lead of the party, navigating the winding city streets and bringing them to the gates of the castle. He threw said gates open with dramatic flair and they hit the walls with a hollow  **_bang._ ** “HEY FUCKERS, I'M HOME!” He proclaimed.

Matt jumped a little at the loud noise, Pat readied his axe, and Eduardo snorted a short 'nice’ as he too readied his hammer.

A pair of guards were on them in an instant and Tord effortlessly tore them both down with a single swing of the sword and continued his march unphased.

“Uuhhh- are they-” Matt started, sounding nervous.

“No, don't worry. They're just sleeping.” Pat’s eyes are wide and his smile is forced as he pats Matt's back, pushing him forwards.

“You  _ know _ the-” Eduardo started but is cut off by Pat's pointed stare.  ~~ Eduardo looks into the camera like he's on Office. ~~

 

Tord doesn't even hesitate once they reach the ballroom. He throws open the doors with the same dramatic flair as the gates.

They're all at a loss for words when they spot her, smack dab in the center of the empty ballroom. A young girl with short pink hair and glasses, skin speckled with sunspots. She floats above the ground, long coat draping down dramatically. Her fingers dance across a clunky black keyboard, unhindered as she smirks down at our heroes.

“ _ **Well hello my darlings~**_ ”  I sing, eyes looking up to you.

“Who the fu-” Eduardo begins.

“ _ **No, no. Not you. Let's put the story on hold for a moment shall we?**_ ”  with the flick of a key the world freezes, our story paused.  “ _ **I would just like to start by saying thank you so much dear readers for sticking with me for so long.**_

_**My name is Sarah and I am, of course, the writer of this story. I've had a lot of fun but have reached my biggest roadblock yet.** _

_**How does the story end?** _

_**Is this a happily ever after or is it a tragedy?** _

_**I have ideas for both but I thought, why not let the readers choose?** _

_**After all, this is as much your story as it is mine. So let's have a vote. Say which ending you'd prefer in the comments or send a message or ask to[the Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ew-fairytale-fic). ** _

_**If enough of you ask, I may even write both endings. But I'll leave that up to you dearies.** _

_**Until then, have a lovely day and happy readings!**_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to the voting and all such I won't be posting the next chapters for quite some time just to let you know :)


End file.
